BHP urges speedy diamond mine review

摘要

Australia's Broken Hill Proprietary Co. (BHP) has urged the panel reviewing its proposed 500 million C dollars diamond mine in the Canadian Arctic to avoid delays in making a decision (MJ, February 24, p.144). The government has said that it expects the review process to take between a year and 18 months to complete although BHP believes that the study could go more quickly, thereby keeping capital costs in check. The Lac de Gras site, which reputedly contains one of the world's richest untapped diamond deposits, is in a remote area of barren tundra in the Northwest Territories and is accessible only in the winter when a road is carved over the area's frozen lakes. BHP's project manager, Bruce Turner said that if a development decision is postponed beyond mid-1996, the summer construction season will be lost, impacting on the joint venture partners' ability to get a good start on the development.