Diavik's future is underground

Diavik is at a major milestone in its mine life. Between now and 2012, we will change from an open-pit mine to an all underground mine.
A significant investment of nearly US $800 million by our owners, Rio Tinto and Harry Winston Diamond Corporation, to build the underground mine, shows the confidence in our continued success.

Throughout the transition, safety will continue to be our highest value. We will also maintain our high standards of environmental protection and our commitment to create significant local socio-economic benefits. These commitments will not change.

However, we will need to change our business for a different kind of mining. This essentially new business will require different mining methods, skills, equipment, and additional supporting infrastructure. For a short time, we will operate our open-pit and underground mines concurrently.

By making this transition to underground, we are doing what we have always said we would do. Going underground assures our future and means we will deliver a mine life of 16 to 22 years - the mine life we projected back in the 1990s, before construction began.

Working hard to create a smooth and efficient transition will guarantee our continued success as a leading Canadian mining operation.

Diavik's open-pit and underground mining operations will differ greatly. Top are Diavik's two operating open pits with the two dikes allowing access to the three kimberlite ore bodies. The kimberlites, extinct volcanoes that brought the diamonds to surface, are known as pipes. Above is a computer generated illustration showing the conceptual development needed to underground mine the pipes. Clearly, the underground mine design is very complex.