An exhausted David Taylor paused to press his face against the glass of the helicopter window, squinting to see past the pelting snow. Seconds later his eyes were back on his map as he traced the route and calculated their current location. His hands were steady, but he knew time was running out.
Taylor and a team of eight others had spent two days aboard helicopters and bush planes, flying 300 kilometres outside Yellowknife in search of a missing hunter who had managed to get trapped under the snow. The RCMP, the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Civil Air Rescue Association and others, 100 people in total, were out searching for the man, but it was Taylor and his team who spotted him and brought him to the hospital staff at Gahcho Kue Mine. The team lowered the helicopter to a flat surface on the tundra, close to the survivor who was stiff and near-frozen to death. From the mine, he was flown to the Yellowknife hospital and ultimately, survived.
$33m Loan helps Mountain Province through Covid Liquidity Issues May 13, 21 by
(IDEX Online) - Mountain Province Diamonds has arranged a short-term $33m loan with Irish billionaire Dermot Desmond, to ease its near term liquidity needs .
The Canadian miner has struggled with the three-week Covid-enforced closure of its Gahcho Kue mine (
pictured), which in turn forced it to cancel its May diamond sale in Antwerp.
That, combined with the high costs of maintaining its winter access road, left it seeking funds from Desmond s Dunebridge Worldwide Ltd, which holds a 32 per cent stake.
Stuart Brown, the company s president a
nd CEO, said a news release yesterday that he expected to make up the lost production, revenue and cash generation, allowing it to repay this loan by the end of the year.
Mountain Province Recovering after Covid Shuts Mine a
nd Hits Sales
(IDEX Online) - Mountain Province Diamonds reported a 13 per cent d
rop in Q1 sales, but said prices were almost back to pre-Covid levels a
nd it could see a path to a return to normalcy .
The Canadian miner sold $42.7m, compared with $49.2m in the same quarter of 2020, which was largely unaffected by the pandemic.
A total of 602,773 carats were sold during the quarter, for an average value of $71 per carat, down five per cent on Q1 2020.
pictured), Northwest Territories, in February.
That, combined with problems restarting production, manpower issues and an extremely cold winter, meant it recovered 16 per cent fewer carats - 1,392,128 compared with 1,655,121 in Q1 2020.
The first quarter of the year marked a continuing recovery in diamond prices for
Mountain Province Diamonds (TSX: MPVD) – but production at the company’s 49%-owned Gahcho Kué mine, in the Northwest Territories, was severely curtailed by a Covid-19 outbreak.
The mine, operated by 51% owner De Beers, was linked to
at least 18 cases and was shut down for 22 days to get the outbreak under control.
After suspending production on Feb. 6, a return of production personnel was announced in late February.
Tonnes of ore mined in the first quarter were down 50% from the year earlier quarter, with tonnes of ore treated down 31% and carats recovered 16% lower at 1.4 million carats. Recovered grades were 22% higher at 2.23 carats per tonne.
N.W.T. confirms 1st COVID-19 variant of concern
The case reported at the Diavik Diamond Mine on March 29 is the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the United Kingdom.
Social Sharing
Case detected at Diavik Diamond Mine March 29. No risk to public at this time, health authority says
CBC News ·
Posted: Apr 01, 2021 8:06 PM CT | Last Updated: April 2
The Diavik Diamond Mine in remote, northeastern N.W.T. A case of COVID-19 among a worker there has turned out to be the territory s first instance of a variant of concern. The chief public health officer has said there is no risk to the public. (Rio Tinto)