For those road transport
operators in the relatively
mild average climate
of southern Africa who
think they have it tough, spare
a thought for South Africa’s
mining giant De Beers’ Canadian
operations and what they go
through to supply their diamond
mines in the far north of the land
of the maple leaf.
The cold fact is that the
global company’s most northern
operations are embraced by
lakes and ponds that cannot be
bridged to establish permanent
paved roads all the way from
key supply centres. Government
after government reviews the
possibility of building all-weather
roads, but the enormous cost and
the challenge of finding a suitable
route to service both the sparse
populations and remote mines
have yet to be overcome in these
areas.
Nature provided this challenge,
so it also provided a six- to eightweek
solution when temperatures
from -20C to -40C are routine
and wind chill factors drop it
further to unimaginable depths
for us southern Africans in
relative sub-tropical
splendour.
This cold allows
crews to build
additional ice atop
the watery obstacles
that can be up to 60
inches thick in places
as roads across the
lakes and ponds are
identified where the
ice can carry some
of the extraordinary
loads to be moved.
The iced water
stages are up to 90kms long. In
some cases the roads pass over
frozen swamp lands made up of
peat, or what is known locally
as ‘muskeg’. The roads can also
cross many rivers and small
water bodies.
Explains head of external and
corporate affairs for De Beers
Canada, Tom Ormsby: “Our De
Beers Victor Mine in northern
Ontario is 300 kilometres from
the nearest year-round road or
railway and 515kms from the
nearest city. The
Gahcho Kué mine is
just below the Arctic
Circle and 280kms
from the City of
Yellowknife, which
is our major hub.
The ice roads to both
mines are critical
to haul the bulk of
our annual resupply
needs each February
and March when the
ice road truckers start
hauling.”
Perishable foods and smaller
spares and equipment can be
flown in all year round by charter,
but required heavy haulage
elements must be anticipated
for the 10 months of “isolation”.
This is the responsibility of the
mines’ procurement divisions
on site. They identify what is
required and make certain that it
is at the staging posts for delivery
when the roads are opened each
February.
Road building and
maintenance crews, using hightech
measuring equipment,
establish the thickness of the
ice and deem routes safe to
commence the haulage. This
triggers relentless round trips to
deliver to the mines and pick up
any items to be taken back to the
staging points.
Ormsby says more than 90%
of required non-perishable
goods and 100% of fuel needs
are annually delivered on ice
roads in the two months. These
include parts, supplies, heavy
equipment, fuel and lubes. Large
items such as haul trucks and the
camp office and accommodation
modules are usually sent up in
multiple loads and assembled on
site by the mines.
Weights can exceed 55 000kgs
per load at the peak of the
programme. Fuel tanks, truck
boxes for 100-tonne and 200-
tonne mine haulers and large
components for the process
plants such as scrubbers and
support beams are some of the
heavier and larger items that
must be moved when the ice is at
its thickest.
Turnaround in both loading at
staging points and off loading at
mines is vital to keep all vehicles
constantly moving. For example
a convoy of five fuel tankers, each
containing 35-40 000 litres of
fuel amounting to a total of 180-
200 000 litres, can be emptied
in just 90 minutes. This includes
adopting protection methods to
eliminate any environmentally
damaging spills. In extreme
climates hoses and other parts of
the vehicles can freeze up during
the journey to the mine, so the
mines have worked with suppliers
to ensure the hoses and support
equipment are designed for the
harsh conditions.
An extensive backhaul
strategy each season removes
items no longer required at the
mines, items for recycling or
items that are in good shape
which are donated to local
communities along the way such
as construction trailers no longer
in use at the mines.
The millions of dollars that
it costs to establish the roads,
maintain them for the delivery
window and then close them is
footed by the mines involved.
This includes providing mine-site
accommodation for drivers to
enable them to rest properly due
to the exhausting nature of these
potentially dangerous routes
with blizzard conditions that
limit visibility. On some roads
a 50-person road maintenance
crew is stationed halfway along
long stretches where truckers
can get a hot meal and shower 24
hours a day and sleep in the yard
of the camp in their sleepers in
the trucks if required.
Road building
and maintenance
crews establish the
thickness of the ice
and deem routes
safe to commence
the haulage.
Fuel trucks lined up at De Beer’s Gahcho Kue mine in Canada.
