Update: Snap Lake diamond mine snaps shut, 434 laid off – Norj.ca

December 7, 2015

More than 400 people will likely be looking for jobs over Christmas after De Beers Canada announced it had suspended mining at Snap Lake.

De Beers Canada CEO Kim Truter confirmed on Dec. 4 the diamond mine 220 kilometres north of Yellowknife, which has not turned a profit since opening in June 2008, would spin down operations for the next one to nine months and move to care and maintenance operations.

De Beers had warned an unexpected water problem at the mine was costing millions to deal with and threatened its viability. High levels of dissolved solids forced the company to capture water leaking into the mine and treat it before discharging it into the lake.