74 / 90
71
F I RE I N
THE I CE
SNAP LAKE
CANADA
Thousands of miles lie between the heat of Botswana
and the frozen lakes of the Canadian Arctic. Canada
has been home to some of the largest recent
developments of diamond mines; however, mining
in the Arctic carries particular challenges. One
example of this is De Beers’ mine at Snap Lake in the
Northwest Territories, 220 kilometres north of the
closest city, Yellowknife.
The portrait of Calinda gives you a sense of what
life is like for the mine workers there.
Calinda is 31 years old and has worked at Snap
Lake since she completed the Underground Miner
Training Program in 2008. “These past 4.5 years
as a female underground miner have been an
honour,” said Calinda, who is a lube truck operator
underground.
Calinda typically works a 12-hour shift for two weeks
on the mine before returning home to the Tlicho
community of Wekweeti for the next two weeks. The
mine can only be accessed by plane, so she and her
colleagues catch a special charter flight for De Beers
employees to and from the mine from Yellowknife,
and then board another plane home.
At Snap Lake, it is dark and remains so throughout
most of the day. Temperatures can go down to -45
degrees Celsius and colder on the surface, although
down in the mine it’s warmer, where the air is heated
to an average temperature of three to five degrees
Celsius. De Beers provides all the warm clothing and
safety items required for each employee to do his or
her work safely.
SAFETY IS A BIG DEAL AT SNAP LAKE – THE MINE HAS WON TWO
REGIONAL SAFETY AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE
As Calinda explains: “Safety is our top priority: it’s on
everyone’s minds, all the time, and we work together
to keep each other and the environment safe. At the
beginning and the end of every shift, the team does
a handover, to ensure everybody is aware of the exact
location they are mining.”