Work at Stornoway Diamond Corp.’s Renard Project is on schedule and on budget.
That’s according to the company’s second quarter 2015 results.
“Stornoway’s second quarter of fiscal 2015 showed continued solid progress with our construction mobilization at the Renard Diamond Project,” said company president and chief executive officer (CEO) Matt Manson.
“Unseasonably temperate weather conditions at the project site toward the end of the quarter allowed our civil works to advance modestly ahead of the planned schedule. Integration of our owner’s team and engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) team is progressing, and contractor efficiency at site has met our expectations.
“We are particularly gratified by the high proportion of local participation in employment and contracting we have been able to achieve in the short time since construction began. Both the resource drilling and the diamond plant design optimization completed during the quarter offer potential value upside through an extended mine life and large diamond recovery respectively. The project remains on schedule for first ore in the plant in the second half of calendar 2016 and for commercial production in the second quarter of calendar 2017. The forecast cost to complete remains within our fully funded capital budget of $811 million.”
Other highlights from the results include:
• Incurred costs and commitments at the quarter end totalled $179.7 million, or 22.1 per cent of budget;
• Overall construction progress stood at 10 per cent compared to a planned nine per cent and 68 per cent for scheduled 2014 activities compared to a planned 62 per cent. Work progress under Stornoway’s EPCM contract stood at 11 per cent compared to a planned 14 per cent;
• Onsite manpower during the month of October averaged 260 workers, of which more than 50 per cent were Crees of the Eeyou Istchee; and
• An optimization of the diamond plant design during the quarter resulted in the inclusion of a large-diamond recovery circuit to the plant’s primary flow sheet within the existing capital budget and with no change in scope to overall planned processing capacity.
