BHP Minerals filing plan of operations

Australian mining giant Broken Hill Proprietary is proceeding at full speed in the race to develop Canada’s first diamond mine.

The company, through subsidiary BHP Minerals Canada, is earning a 51% interest in the Northwest Territories diamond project by funding up to US$500 million in development costs.

The project, recently visited by The Northern Miner, is in the Lac de Gras camp, 300 km north of Yellowknife, N.W.T. Dia Met Minerals (TSE) will hold a 29% interest after BHP earns its interest; the remainder is privately held. As part of the permitting process, BHP expects to file a plan of operations with the Territorial government this month.

Bruce Turner, project manager for BHP, said the company hopes to complete a feasibility study and make an internal production decision by the end of the year for the development of five separate kimberlite pipes.

If all goes according to plan, permits will be secured by mid-1995. Based on an 18-month construction schedule, the project will be up and running by the beginning of 1997, with the first production coming from open-pit mining of the Panda pipe.