Welcome to Diavik Diamond Mine. In this video, we'll provide a bird's eye view of Rio Tinto's activities on Lac de Gras and Canada's Northwest Territories as we move towards closure in 2026. Diavik has been operating since 2003 with a workforce of over 1,300 people on average. We have recovered more than 145 million carats of diamonds and have spent over $10.5 billion billion, of which more than $7.5 billion is with northern businesses.
At DIVIC, we planned for closure from the beginning of operations and many of our closure activities are well advanced. After the end of diamond production in 2026, closure and remediation work will continue until 2029, followed by several years of environmental monitoring. Our goal at DIVIC is to be a leader in responsible mine closure. On this video tour, we'll show you our plans for decommissioning the mine and reclaiming the area where DIAVIC operates today.
Our official closure plan calls for the removal of all buildings and infrastructure on site. After the infrastructure is removed, we are planning to revegetate some areas of the site. However, DIAVIC is also actively looking at whether some of the infrastructure can be repurposed. During operations, all water at the site, including groundwater and water used in the process plant, is sent to our water treatment facility. The facility cleans the water by removing suspended sediment before releasing it into Lactagra.
Our engineered closure source controls will ensure water is safe and will no longer require active management or treatment into the future. The north inlet is part of DIVIC's operational water treatment system. It works as a holding pond. The water is either reused in the process plant or treated and released into Lac de Gras.
Sediment removed from process water is sent back into the north inlet and settles on the lakebed. The sediment is cleaned via a naturally occurring process known as bioremediation, which breaks down hydrocarbons into CO2 and water prior to allowing the waterway to be reconnected to Lac de Gras. Processed Kimberlite Containment Facility, or PKCF, is a lined rock-filled dam built to permanently store processed kimberlite at Dyvik. While most of the area is stable, the center contains soft, fine-grained processed kimberlite, creating a potentially unstable land form for wildlife and people.
To remedy this, Dyvik began construction of a solid rock cover in 2023, ensuring that the land form is safe and stable in the long term. This design and construction of the PKCF is one of the most challenging technical aspects of DIAVIC closure and includes continuous monitoring of ground stability conditions and the use of remote-controlled heavy equipment. Pictured here, the cover is currently over 66% complete. DIAVIC's process kimberlite is now pumped into the now-complete A418 operation, allowing this progressive reclamation work to proceed ahead of schedule.
Considerable work has been undertaken to reclaim the waste rock that has the potential to release poor quality water. After re-sloping the rock pile to a 3 to 1 angle, it was covered with a 1.5 meter thick layer of natural till and 3 meters of clean rock. This thick cover will limit infiltration of water and keep the underlying rock frozen, even under climate warming scenarios. Construction of the cover on the North Country Rock Pile began in 2017 and is over 96% complete. The cover was reviewed by DIVIC's Indigenous Traditional Knowledge Panel members, who consider the shape of eskers in the natural landscape and how wildlife such as caribou may travel through the area.
You can see in this image from spring 2024 that caribou are already making use of the reclaimed area, traversing up and down the slope. The South Country Rock Pile stores clean rock from A21. A lot of this rock is being used for progressive reclamation activities.
DIAVIC will continue to use this rock pile to support our closure activities across the mine. After work is complete, we'll ensure wildlife have adequate access on and off the pile with constructed ramps. We will not need to construct a cover as the rock is clean and stable.
During operations, DIAVIC deposits all non-hazardous waste like metal and plastic in the landfill. After production is complete, we'll deposit similar stable demolition waste and then expand the current NCRP cover to cap the landfill, which will ensure these materials also remain frozen in permafrost long term. Hazardous waste will be removed from site using backhauls on the winter road as much as possible, as well as items that can be practically sold, recycled or donated. DIVIC has mined 4 pipes, of which 3, A154 North, A154 South and A21, are now active underground operations as open pit mining has completed. Mining of the A418 Kimberlite was completed in late 2022. Now we are refilling A418 with Process Kimberlite, essentially putting it back where it came from.
The deposited material will be permanently stable deep below the lake surface. The main day-to-day operational challenge at DIVIC is managing the large volumes of groundwater we must pump and treat to keep the underground operations dry every day. Over 40 million litres.
Once we close and flood the operations with clean lake water, pumping will stop. Before flooding the underground, we'll remove hazardous materials and mobile equipment. When the water quality monitoring of the flooded areas indicates stable conditions, we'll reconnect the water with Lactagrath to allow access by fish and people.
These wind turbines provide about 10% of DIVX power generation. This system has already reduced diesel usage at the mine site by over 48 million liters, translating to a CO2 emission reduction of over 135,000 tons. The turbines will be near the end of their expected life after closure. In 2024, we activated the largest off-grid solar panel plant across Canada's northern territories.
Over 6,600 solar panels on a closed section of the PKCF generate about 4.2 million kilowatt hours of carbon-free electricity annually for the mine. Approximately 32% of the site's electricity will be provided by wind and wind. and solar power during closure activities starting in 2026. DIAVIC is working with the government of the Northwest Territories and community partners to determine how the solar infrastructure can best benefit the region following closure.
Rio Tinto actively planned for the closure of DIAVIC even before construction began. We hope the progressive reclamation and planning work highlighted in this video will emphasize our commitment to closing Dyvix safely and responsibly. We are working to make the site safe and stable for people, wildlife, and aquatic life, without the need for ongoing active care and maintenance. We remain committed to working closely with our community partners, all levels of government, and regulators as we progress towards closure.
If you have further questions, please reach out to a divic representative thanks for joining us on this virtual tour