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REGIONAL NEWS - U.S. & CANADA 6 E&MJ; • APRIL 2017 www.e-mj.com Newest Canadian Diamond Mine Reaches Commercial Production Gahcho Kué, the world's largest new dia- mond mine in the last 13 years, officially began commercial production on March 2. The mine, a joint venture with De Beers Group (51%) and Mountain Prov- ince Diamonds (49%), is expected to pro- duce approximately 54 million carats of rough diamonds over its lifetime. Production ramp up began on August 1 and the official opening ceremony took place on September 20. "Today marks a significant landmark for De Beers in Canada as Gahcho Kué becomes an important contributor to the group's global production," said Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group. "That the mine has reached this landmark, on bud- get and ahead of schedule, is testament to the partnerships that have worked to- gether since construction began." The mine is projected to add more than C$5 billion to the economy of the Northwest Territories over its lifetime, Cleaver added. Patrick Evans, president and CEO of Mountain Province Diamonds, added, "The dedicated support of our sharehold- ers, business partners and employees has made today's important achievement pos- sible. Gahcho Kué is a rich diamond de- posit that secures Canada's position as one of the world's leading diamond producers." The fly-in/fly-out remote mine site is approximately 280 kilometers northeast of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Comprising three open pits, the mine will employ 530 people full time. Strike Continues at Lucky Friday Silver Mine As this edition goes to press, miners re- mained on strike at Hecla Mining's Lucky Friday mine located in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District in northern Idaho. The Unit- ed Steelworkers (USW) Union Local 5114 voted to initially go on strike on March 12. The previous six-year contract between Hecla Mining Co. and the United Steel Workers expired in April 2016. Previously, both sides were negotiating with the help of a federal mediator, but they reached an impasse during February. Hecla has reportedly proposed changes to miners' healthcare, scheduling and bonus pay. The union released a statement say- ing Hecla downplayed how the contract demands would impact jobs at the mine and the company's proposal created safe- ty risks by removing team ownership of responsible bid miners from the equation. "The current dispute is less about fi- nancial provisions of the contract and more about who assigns work: that is de- termining when people work, where they work and with whom they work," said Luke Russell, vice president of external affairs at Hecla Mining. "The previous system generally worked in the past but will not work for the mine of the future, which is why the rest of the mines in America have moved away from that approach." According to Russell, the company has met with the union 28 times over the past 11 months, and as recently as March 14. "We have some of the best miners in the world, and we remain open to talking with the union," he said. "We are asking our great labor force to join us as we modernize the scheduling and job assignment process to give us the flexibility needed to keep the mine safely operating for years to come." The Lucky Friday mine produced more than 3.5 million ounces (oz) of silver in 2016, an 18.8% increase over 2015, mainly due to higher mill throughput, grades and recovery in 2016. The mill op- erated at an average of 844 tons per day (t/d) in the fourth quarter of 2016 and 803 t/d for the full year. The company recently completed the No. 4 Shaft Project, which will extend the life of the mine by grant- ing it access to deeper, higher grade ores, and it has seen an improvement in cash as it encountered higher-grade ore. For the fourth quarter, however, the company re- ported all-in sustaining costs of $18.51/oz after byproduct credits. The spot price for silver is currently less than $17/oz. AuRico Recieves Approval for Kemess Underground AuRico Metals reported that the Cana- dian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) has issued a positive decision statement and that the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) has granted an Environmental Assessment Certificate for its Kemess underground project. The project still requires a number of additional licenses and permits, which are expected to be granted in early 2018. The Kemess underground project is a large gold-copper development project located in north-central British Columbia. The Kemess South open-pit mine operat- ed successfully between 1998 and 2011 and produced approximately 3 million oz of gold and 750 million pounds (lb) of copper. Production ceased when the open pit was depleted. The Kemess underground deposit is located approximately 6 kilometers (km) north of the existing Kemess South pro- cessing plant. The Kemess underground Five months after it official opening, Gaucho Kué reached commercial production.