Trucks rumbling north as mine construction begins
WebPosted Feb 25 2005 08:47 AM CST
CBC News
YELLOWKNIFE - The Tahera Diamond Corporation is about to start construction of Nunavut's first diamond mine.
High-value diamonds will be mined at the Tahera property in Nunavut within a year or so
For the past two weeks trucks have been travelling to the minesite, located just across the N.W.T. border 400 kilometres north of Yellowknife.
Before the winter road thaws, all the building material needed will be on site and the open pit will be under construction.
LINK: Tahera Diamond Corporation
Of the 500 semi-trailer loads, half contain diesel fuel for operating the mine, the mill and a 100-person camp.
The other 250 truckloads will transport steel, cement, machinery and prefabricated buildings.
The last truck must drop off its load and be out before April.
"Much of this equipment and certainly much of the building equipment is far too heavy to fly in, and in any case far too costly, and therefore to have it come up the winter road and available for the summer construction season is absolutely crucial for us to meet the timetable that we have in mind," says Peter Gillin, the head Tahera Diamonds.
The cost of all the material is $65 million.
Tiffany and Company fronted half that amount in October after it got a look at the quality of diamonds Tahera would be mining.
With that kind of backing, it took equity-market investors less than a month to ante up the rest.
Gillin says it'll be about a year before his mine is up to full capacity.
At half a million carats annually, the cost of all this construction material could be paid off in about 24 months.
That leaves six more years of almost pure profits, minus operating costs, before the mine gives up its last gem.
AI
