Jericho mine gets a new lease on life

Shear Diamonds, which purchased the Jericho mine in 2010, got approval for an eight-year water licence for the duration of the mine’s recommissioning, operation and eventual reclamation. (FILE PHOTO)

The Nunavut Water Board has renewed a water license for the Jericho diamond mine.

Shear Diamonds, which purchased the mine in 2010, had requested an eight-year water licence for the duration of the mine’s recommissioning, operation and eventual reclamation.

“The renewal of the Jericho Diamond mine water license is a key component to Shear’s evolution into the re-start of the Jericho Diamond Mine,” said Shear Diamonds CEO Julie Lassonde in a Dec. 22 company news release.

The water board’s decision is still awaiting approval from Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, which should happen early in the new year.

In the meantime, Shear will continue its diamond exploration in the reject pile at Jericho, roughly 350 kilometres south of Cambridge Bay.

Shear Diamonds recently struck a deal with a Belgian diamond dealer that will give Shear the cash it needs to recover and sell diamonds from the mothballed site’s existing stockpiles.

The Belgian diamond firm Taché has agreed to purchase rough and polished diamonds from the Jericho project and to provide Shear with a loan of $2 million, repayable over 12 months, after Shear begins receiving the proceeds of diamond sales.

The Jericho mine, which last operated from 2006 to 2008, was the territory’s first diamond mine.