The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Northern Manitoba is no longer a priority for diamond-mining giant De Beers. The company had staked thousands of square kilometres in the God's Lake and Knee Lake areas, some 200 kilometres northeast of Thompson. Don Boucher, divisional manager for De Beers Exploration, said the area is not being abandoned but has moved down the company's list of projects. He said De Beers will compile the information it has gathered from the site, including the results of 25 drillings, and reassess the situation. De Beers, along with several major and junior exploration companies, took out permits on the land in 1999 during what some have referred to as "Manitoba's diamond rush." Boucher, who is based in Sudbury, Ontario, said the company will now focus on its other sites, including the Fort la Corne Diamond Project located 50 kilometres northeast of Prince Albert. De Beers has been in the business of mining and marketing rough diamonds for over 100 years and is the only company active in every category of diamond mining. In Canada, De Beers has two advanced projects, which are scheduled to begin production at the end of 2007 Ñ the Snap Lake Diamond Project and the Victor Diamond Project. The Snap Lake Diamond Project in the Northwest Territories will be the first entirely underground diamond mine in Canada. The Victor Diamond Project is situated in Northern Ontario and will be an open-pit mine Ñ Canada's first diamond mine outside of the Northwest Territories, according to the company.
