Operations

In addition to the mine assets, the Company enjoys established and productive relationships with local communities and aboriginal organizations. Together, these mines provide the Company with a steady and reliable supply of rough diamonds that are highly prized in the world’s markets for their size, shape, color and clarity.

Dominion Diamond follows the strategies outlined below to extend and grow its diamond mining business:

Developing Resources and Exploration

The Ekati Diamond Mine consists of the Core Zone, which includes the current operating mine and other permitted kimberlite pipes, as well as the Buffer Zone, an adjacent area which hosts the Jay and Lynx kimberlite pipes. At Ekati, longer term exploration potential includes Fox Deep, Misery Deep, Jay underground and exploration on existing trend lines.

Lac de Gras Joint Venture

The Company’s Lac de Gras Property is held through a Joint Venture agreement with North Arrow Minerals Inc., where Dominion holds a 55% interest and North Arrow the remaining 45% interest.   The Lac de Gras Property forms a very large, contiguous block  and covers an area of approximately 147,200 hectares.  The Lac de Gras Property is located within the prolific Lac de Gras diamondiferous kimberlite field in Canada’s Northwest Territories, home to some of the richest diamond deposits in the world.

The Joint Venture Property directly adjoins the mineral leases that host the Diavik Diamond Mine, located only 10 km to the north and the Ekati Diamond Mine, less than 40 km to the northwest. The trend line defined by Diavik’s mine project kimberlites runs directly through the centre of the joint venture property, while the trend line defined by Ekati’s mine project kimberlites crosses the western portion of the joint venture property.

In January 2016, the Lac de Gras Joint Venture partners approved an exploration program on the property for fiscal year 2017, which includes desktop studies, airborne geophysical surveying and certain ground follow-up fieldwork.

Glowworm Lake Property

Dominion recently acquired a parcel of leases, which were released by the Diavik Joint Venture, covering an area of 132,560 hectares located on the eastern side of the Diavik Joint Venture property as well as 8,272 hectares located in Nunavut which has been designated as the Glowworm Lake Property.  An additional group of leases adjacent to and south of the Glowworm Lake Property may be made available to the Company once conditions relating to existing underlying agreements are satisfied.   These areas have been prospected in the past and will now undergo an in-depth data review to prioritize targets for future follow-up.

Additional Sources of Rough Diamond Supply

The Company continues to evaluate additional sources of rough diamonds worldwide and will consider purchases on an opportunistic basis, where pricing and overall market conditions warrant.