Ekati Diamond Mine

Nuna has been a contractor with BHP Billiton Diamonds from the early planning and development stages of the $1 billion Ekati Diamond Mine. Nuna provided a large portion of the fleet and all manpower for contract mining services for the Panda pit pre-stripping program, the Koala North pit, and standalone mining of the Misery satellite pit, which included provisions of all site infrastructure such as camps, shops, and fuel bays. Nuna personnel moved 1.2 million tonnes per month average during these programs.

Year: 2018
Client: Dominion Diamond Ekati Corporation
Project Scope Performed Under: Nuna Deton’Cho Contracting Joint Venture

Project Scope

• Misery Underground 440 Bench Work which required loading, hauling and dumping of 100,000 tonnes of blast rock; and construction of various pads and structures back filled to support future underground operations including fresh air raise units, heaters, fuel tanks and pumping stations. Installed and removed crane pads on the Misery Pit ramp to support high wall scaling and mesh installation.
• Misery Camp Pad Re-Grading – Cut-to-fill activities on the existing camp pad to accommodate Misery Camp expansion; pad construction for various tanks and structures; and wildlife fence relocation.
• King Pond Saddle Dam Upgrade – Construction of an impermeable Saddle Dam in preparation for dewatering the Misery underground operations.  Scope included loading, hauling and placing approximately 24,000 m³ of crush stone material and 8,450 m² of geosynthetic clay liner.
• Sable ERT Building – Erection of a 60’ x 40’ steel foldaway building, foundation block installation and surfacing material.
• Drill Support – Provided labour and equipment support for the 2018 winter drill program at various exploration sites.
• Environmental Remediation – In conjunction with our Client’s environmental department, completed Old Camp reclamation and Landfarm Bio-remediation projects.

Year: 2017
Client: Dominion Diamond Ekati Corporation
Project Scope Performed Under: Nuna Deton’Cho Contracting Joint Venture

The Jay Road provides access to the new Jay deposit on Lac du Sauvage from the existing Misery Road. Construction of the road commenced mid-July 2017 and completed early October 2017, with a peak on-site manpower of 42.

Project Scope

• Jay Road Construction: 4.3 kilometres with 25.8 metres of running surface and 6 culvert crossings
• Jay North Road Construction: 2.2 kilometres with 25.8 metres of running surface and 2 culvert crossings

Year: April 2016-July 2017
Client: Dominion Diamond Ekati Corporation
Project Scope Performed Under: Nuna Contracting Ltd.

The Sable deposit is located beneath Sable Lake on the Ekati property. Nuna mobilized a large heavy civil fleet (100 tonne trucks and support gear), and peak on-site manpower comprised 140 direct hires and 11 subcontractors for a total of over 263,000 man hours.

Project Scope

• Beartooth waste rock stockpile drilling and blasting
• Beartooth crushing operation
• Sable haul road construction: 16 kilometres with 21 metres of running surface and 5 culvert crossings
• Sable site haul road construction: 1.6 kilometres with 26.4 metres of running surface
• Sable pit quarry operation: pioneering, drilling, and blasting
• Sable crushing operation
• Sable infrastructure pad and access roads
• Two Rock frozen core dam construction
• Two Rock filter dike and access road construction
• Sable Tank farm: tank pedestals, liner, and containment berms
• Sable and Two Rock lake dewatering

Year: 2015
Client: Dominion Diamond Ekati Corporation
Project Scope Performed Under: Nuna Deton’Cho Contracting Joint Venture & Nuna Winter Road Services Ltd.

Nuna’s presence increased at the Ekati site as an ad hoc crew to complete the construction of the Lynx Pit Access Road and upgrade, which comprised 1 kilometres of new construction and 3 kilometres of upgrade. The work was carried out utilizing the owner’s fleet. In addition, Nuna Deton’Cho Contracting provided Ekati Mine Services crusher support (Misery) and ad hoc labour for the operation of the Koala crusher and for the Misery power supply project. Under Nuna Winter Road Services, Nuna’s scope comprised the 2015–2016 winter road construction and exploration drilling support for the Jay Pipe project.

Year: 1994–2014
Client: BHP Billiton Diamonds Inc.
Project Scope Performed Under: Nuna Contracting Ltd.

Site Services

• Construction of HDPE dewatering pipelines and earthworks at various on-site locations

Contract Mining Services

• Panda pit pre-strip program
• Koala North pit
• Standalone mining of the Misery satellite pit, which included provisions of all site infrastructure such as camps, shops, and fuel bays

Nuna personnel moved 1.2 million tonnes per month average during these programs.

Frozen Core Dams

• CEA award–winning 800-metre-long frozen core dam at Long Lake, including the installation and operation of frozen core aggregate batch
• 3 frozen core dams at the Misery Pit satellite site (Bear Claw, King Pond and Waste Rock)

Nuna constructed the EBA Engineering CEA award–winning Leslie Long Lake dam located at BHP Billiton Diamond’s Ekati Diamond Mine. Nuna was responsible for the construction of the 800-metre-long frozen core dam, including key trench excavation and preparation, HDPE liner installation, production, and placement of core material, requiring the supply and operation of an asphalt plant for the mixing of the core material. The installation of the aggregate crushing and asphalt facility started in January 1998, and the structure was completed early April that year. The dam was constructed to contain 100 million cubic metres of processed kimberlite. Thermosyphons were installed to provide passive refrigeration to the dam structure.

All-Weather Access Construction & Maintenance

• 7,000-foot airstrip and supporting access roads
• 31-kilometre all-weather access and haulage road linking the Ekati site to the Misery site

Crushing:

• Crush and supply of aggregates for construction concrete and backfill materials for the plant site and road maintenance

Ice Infrastructure & Maintenance

• Development and maintenance of a 160-kilometre winter road over the barren lands and frozen lakes to support a major exploration drill program

Transportation

• Transportation of bulk bagged cement from Hay River, Northwest Territories, to Ekati mine site for the construction of the process plant and ancillary buildings

Drill Support

• Support for five reverse circulation drill rigs, which involved construction of road access, setup and tear-out of rigs, and rig support