Canada’s mild winter disrupts key ice roads to remote Arctic diamond mines By Reuters

Written by: Divya Rajagopal

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada’s unusually warm winter this year has delayed the opening of 400 kilometers (250 miles) of ice roads that are rebuilt annually on key conduits for Rio Tinto (NYSE:), Burgundy Mines and Burgundy Mines. De Beers approaches a diamond mine in a remote Arctic region.

The Winter Road, which runs through a region accessible only by air for 10 months of the year, opened with a two-week delay in mid-February, halting the movement of goods along the ice road built over 64 frozen lakes. It is done.

Earlier this week, the Tlicho government in the Northwest Territories (NWT) restricted commercial truck movement on one of its winter roads for several days as warmer weather is expected across the North Slave region.

While diamond production will not be affected, the delay highlights the challenges companies face as the mines that make Canada the world’s third-largest diamond producer reach the end of their productive lives.

It also highlights infrastructure obstacles for the NWT and Nunavut, which are positioning themselves as the next frontier in the exploration of critical metals such as rare earths, cobalt and lithium in the transition to a greener future.

There have been delays in the construction of Winter Road, which first became operational in 1982, in the past, but this year’s is the longest delay in recent years, according to Tom Hoefer, senior advisor to the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines.

“As a result, we started down the road a little bit late,” he said.

Climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels and the emergence of the natural El Niño climate pattern will push the world into record heat territory by 2023.

Due to the effects of this year’s El Niño, Yellowknife, the capital of NWT, recorded the warmest day of the winter with a high of 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) in December and -8.7 degrees Celsius (17.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in February. Within 10 years, according to data from Environment Canada.

Winter Road opens between late January and early April and requires a minimum requirement for vehicles capable of carrying a gross vehicle weight of 26,000 kg (57,320 lbs) to transport the diesel and dynamite needed to operate the mine. You will need 29 inches (74 cm) of ice.

On warm days, engineers have found a way to trick nature by using giant sprinklers to create artificial ice, spraying water into the air so that when it falls, it cools and forms a thick layer of ice.

Paul Gruner, CEO of Indigenous business Tlicho Investment Corp & Group of Companies, said this year’s winter has been warm to begin with and there is a risk of early closures if the season gets warmer or if spring arrives early.

“So you start to nibble on both sides and it starts to create a very short season,” Gruner said.

Winter Road is jointly operated by Burgundy Diamond Mines, Rio Tinto and Anglo American (JO:) group’s De Beers, which operates the Ekati, Diavik and Gahcho Kue diamond mines respectively.

De Beers and Burgundy Diamonds said their mine operations were unaffected by the mild winter. Rio Tinto declined to comment.

Winter Road’s two-month operating costs are C$25 million ($18.54 million), which is shared between the three companies based on goods transported on the road and distance traveled.

However, the operational life of the mine is approximately 20 years, at which point it must be closed.

Rio Tinto plans to close its Diavik mine in 2026 and De Beers plans to close Snap Lake later this year while also extending the life of Gahcho Kue.

chicken and eggs

Canada’s remote Arctic region, home to about 86,000 people, is facing the complete closure of all its diamond mines by 2030 and is looking for ways to keep them afloat.

Lack of infrastructure is a problem, and seasonal reduced ice road use could undermine the investments needed to mine critical minerals.

“If you are in the exploration phase and considering using winter roads as part of your core business model, the decision to proceed with the project begins to be fraught with risk,” Tlicho Investment said. Gruner said.

NWT’s Hoefer and the Nunavut Chamber of Mines said the two northern provinces, which are as large as Europe, have the highest infrastructure shortages in Canada. This is one of the reasons why the cost of living and doing business in the North is so high.

“This is a chicken-and-egg situation. If you don’t have the infrastructure, mining companies probably won’t come because it’s too expensive,” said Heather Exner-Pirot, director of Macdonald-Laurier’s Energy, Natural Resources and Environment program. said. Academy.

Pirot said it costs C$3 million per kilometer to build a gravel road.

The mining group is pursuing a massive infrastructure project linking the NWT with Nunavut through its diamond mines, which could help unlock the region’s mineral wealth. Of the 31 major minerals listed by the Government of Canada, at least 23 are found in the NWT.

“When this project gets underway, it will replace the road that served the mine for 40 years, but until that happens we need an ice road,” Hoefer said.

($1 = 1.3483 Canadian Dollars)