Chuck: In response to yer questions.
Who do you think will be up and into production first Winspear or Aber ?
The Diavik project will likely be in production prior to Snap despite the technical difficulties they face. DDMI has a good jump start on the Snap project as far as the regulatory aspect is concerned, so that gives them a real edge. But the coffee shop crowd is still hedging their bets simply because of the type of deposit at Snap and the potential to fast track a smaller project with less surface impact and fewer technical difficulties. Some will try and collect their bets early on the basis that having a plant on the Snap site processing underground ore constitutes production, bulk sample or not. However money will not change hands until a full fledged mill built on one of the two sites is processing ore from production mine workings. So who is your money on Chuck?
Do you think Winspear will try marketing diamonds out of
YK ? or will they ship all their booty out of country ?
Anybody's guess, however I suspect that the approval process will be similar or possibly more stringent than Ekati and Diavik and as such will ensure that a certain portion of the product is finished and marketed here in the north. There would be no need to set up their own facility as others already exist. Whether it is in YK or not is another question with a longer answer and many factors. I would suggest there is no way they would be allowed to get all of their "booty" out of the country nor would they necessarily want to. What do you think?
Is it still pretty good times in YK or is it slowing down ?
Yk experienced a real slowdown over the last few years as the diamond rush tapered off and settled down to serious exploration, the flavor of the month moved off to Voiseys Bay , then Indonesia, then BreX, then the price of gold slipping off. Without diamonds not only YK but the whole north would have been hurting. It has been slow in many sectors yet busy in few and recently there are signs of increased activity and some excitement showing through, what with Ekati in production over a year, Diavik now on stream with certainty, Snap in the wings and a strong resurgence of interest in the oil and gas industry with some totally awesome hits in the Liard area. Coupled with a new NWT government, land claims moving along, and many new opportunities cropping up, the future looks bright for the north and YK. There will be hitches of course, like new and cumbersome regulatory regimes, increased government involvement, power struggles between all levels of government etc. but then these are also industries all unto their own which helps the money spin even more. So I'd say more good times around the corner, and picking up as we post. What about yer neck of the woods?
Thanx
L8er
Regards,
Taz |
