Dominion Diamond completes assessing damage caused by fire at Ekati

Dominion Diamond Corporation announced that it has completed an assessment of the damage from the fire that occurred in the process plant at the Ekati Diamond Mine on June 23rd. The company confirmed the damage was limited to a small area, with no damage to the main structural components. The repairs to the plant are expected to take approximately three months, after which the plant is expected to resume operations at full capacity.

The Company has begun to execute a plan to reduce operating and capital costs during this time, which will include an adjustment of mining operations to pause mining at lower priority and lower value ore bodies, a deferral of non-essential sustaining capital, and a temporary layoff of affected staff across the company. It will also continue to mine higher value material during the process plant shutdown. Ore mined during the process plant downtime will be stockpiled, with the intent to prioritize the processing of the highest value material when the plant resumes operations.

Brendan Bell, Chief Executive Officer, stated: “After taking a full and careful assessment, we are taking the most prudent course of action which delivers limited, ongoing mining of higher value ore, while also taking the necessary steps to make repairs and return to production and preserve capital. We would also like to thank our employees for their actions and commitment to resolving this situation quickly and efficiently."