Star Diamond takes over Rio Tinto shares in Fort à la Corne mine

Despite Rio Tinto now bowing out as it re-focuses on the energy transition away from fossil fuels, Star Diamond said the diamonds in central Saskatchewan remain a unique find.

Mason calls it the largest, high quality undeveloped diamond deposit on earth.

“It has some of the richest diamonds ever discovered on the planet. It really is truly a gem, not just for the people of Saskatchewan but for Canada,” he said.

A recently announced deal with Rio Tinto gives Star Diamond 100 per cent control over the project, along with a wealth of equipment, data and $4 million in cash along with a $10 million bond reclamation.

In exchange, Rio Tinto gets up to 19.9 per cent ownership of Star Diamond.

That deal has been in the works for just over a year since Rio Tinto decided to re-focus its operations into minerals.

It will take between a month to 60 days to complete the deal and change the permits previously held by Rio Tinto to Star Diamond.

“Once it closes, we will have boots on the ground and we will be pushing forward to a pre-feasibility and feasibility study for the project,” said Mason.

He said that getting 100 per cent control of the company back into Star Diamonds hands is a major step forward.

By the end of the first quarter of next year, they plan to have a new resource estimate up and the pre-feasibility study should be done by the end of 2024.

By the end of 2025, the feasibility study is set to be done.

After some thought, the company has decided to change how it goes about mining the diamonds once operations actually begin.

“We’ve come to the conclusion now that we can actually take some shortcuts and mine one of the kimberlite pipes which is close to the surface, thereby removing the requirement for what was really an atrocious capital spend,” said Mason.

They need about 1.5 billion to make the mine operational followed by another $300 to $400 million over the life of the mine. Operations would begin in four to five years.

Star Diamond said it is committed to working with Indigenous groups such as nearby James Smith Cree Nation and when it comes to hiring local contractors, they are offering opportunities over jobs.

“It’s a central tenet of our mission as we move forward now because I just don’t see a project this big, where its located, getting developed without the input of First Nations,” Mason said.

“This is a project for shareholders but also the people of Saskatchewan. Anyway we can, we will be hiring local but our goal this run through is not so much to offer jobs to people, but offer opportunities to people. There will be local people employed, Indigenous or otherwise, but we’re looking for partners, owners, and that will be the biggest change from the last time we tried this,” he said.

In the last while, they also opted to re-brand the gems to Keewatin, the Cree word for north wind.

“This is big. This is very important to the province. We’ll get this done and we’ll get this done in a fashion that suits everyone,” Mason stated.

—

susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

by Susan McNeil

Star Diamond takes over Rio Tinto shares in Fort à la Corne mine

What's Trending