Congratulations to NWT & Nunavut Mines for PDAC Awards

10 March 2017

(Yellowknife, NT – March 10, 2017) Congratulations are due to three of our mining members for receiving the prestigious Bill Dennis and Viola R. MacMillan Awards at the annual Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada convention this year.

• The Bill Dennis Award goes to Val d’Or Exploration Division, Agnico Eagle Mines Limited for “discovery of the Amaruq gold deposits in the Amer Lake Basin in Nunavut, Canada”.  The high-grade Amaruq deposits represent a significant gold discovery in Nunavut and one of the few recent large gold discoveries in Canada. The potential and excitement of the discovery is heightened by the timing and location. Reserves at the Meadowbank Gold Mine—one of Agnico’s largest gold producers—are expected to be depleted during 2018. Furthermore, Meadowbank is conveniently located just 50 kilometres southeast of Amaruq, meaning much of the essential infrastructure for a producing mine is already in place.
• The Viola R. MacMillan Award goes to Gahcho Kué Diamond Mine, De Beers Group of Companies & Mountain Province Diamonds for “development of the world’s largest new diamond mine in the last 13 years, a complex project that is expected to produce approximately 54 million carats of rough diamonds over its lifetime”. Located in the Northwest Territories, Gahcho Kué officially opened in September 2016 and reached commercial production 5 months later. Gahcho Kué is the world’s largest new diamond mine in 13 years and is expected to produce approximately 54 million carats of rough diamonds during its initial 12-year lifespan. Now in commercial operation, the US$1 billion investment in exploration, delineation and construction of Gahcho Kué was no small undertaking. The mine brings many benefits to the region and to all of Canada, by employing 530 full-time positions on a fly-in, fly-out rotation. Gahcho Kué is De Beers largest ever mine outside of southern Africa; it is Mountain Province Diamonds’ first ever mine.

Read the full text behind each of the PDAC awards here. 

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