Repairs at Ekati to take three months, cost $25 million+
by jacquie_dealmeida | July 8, 2016 11:11 am
Repairs on Dominion Diamond’s Ekati Diamond Mine will take three months to complete, following a fire that broke out last month.
The mining company estimates repairing the damage will cost approximately $25 million, although it says that figure may change as repair activities progress.
“We continue to actively manage this situation, and have implemented a prudent strategy to minimize the impact of this incident on our cash flow,” said Dominion CEO, Brendan Bell.
“We’ve planned mining activities to allow for the option to prioritize higher-value ore sources on startup, thereby minimizing the impact on the value of our fiscal-year production.”
Repairs include replacing degritting screen #3 with the associated rubber-lined chutes, piping, pumps, and motors, as well as electrical cables and instrumentation. The company says most of these items are already on hand, while others are currently being procured and will be flown to site.
Dominion says it has an insurance policy on the Ekati mine that includes a property damage and business interruption component, and has commenced work with its insurance claims adjusters. It is also reducing operating costs and deferring some capital costs during the plant downtime.
Mining activities continue at the higher-value Misery open pit and Koala underground, and have been suspended at Pigeon and Lynx. The Misery and Koala material will be stockpiled, with the intention of processing a blend of the high-value Misery Main and Koala ore when the process plant restarts.
About 330 contractors and employees have been temporarily laid off for three months, while repairs are underway.
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