Ontario’s diamond mine is more than just a place to work according to some employees.
De Beers Victor Mine is celebrating 10 years of mining near Attawapiskat just before it closes its doors early next year. Safety Health and Risk Trainer Rick Ten Eyck says he has been working at the mine since day one. Ten Eyck says this remote area is more than just a workplace, it’s a family.
He says the culture at the mine is always upbeat and welcoming making it one of the best places to be. Ten Eyck plans be working at the mine until the day the doors close this February. He says the its going to be very hard when the experience is all over. He says he is not looking forward to saying goodbye.
The mine celebrated its 10th anniversary by bringing mining executives, local dignitaries including Timmins Mayor Steve Black and the media to the remote site for a tour of the open pit, processing plant and on-site greenhouse. Executives also held an anniversary ceremony to recognize some achievements over the last 10 years including:
- opening in 2008 ahead of schedule and under budget
- receiving two John T. Ryan National Awards for safety in 2015 and 2016 as the safest mine in Canada, followed by the Eastern Award in 2017
- recovering 7.2-million diamonds
- 85 million tonnes of ore and rock mined
- over $500-million in wages and benefits to employees since 2008
- 33 per cent of the mine’s workforce is Indigenous, mostly from the James Bay communities
- $8.9-million in social investments in local communities
De Beers says the mine is going through the closing process, it’s focus is on the helping the over 500 current employees who are affected. Head of External and Corporate Affairs Tom Ormsby says the mine is still fully operational until February and the layoff process will be in stages. He says the mine’s environmental reclamation process is already underway and will kick into the gear once the mine is depleted in February.