De Beers Signs Victor Mine Impact Benefit Agreement

De Beers Canada and the Moose Cree First Nation signed an Impact Benefit Agreement (IBA) for the Victor Mine in northern Ontario.

The IBA establishes commitments made by De Beers and Moose Cree First Nation regarding education, training, business, compensation and other initiatives to maximize opportunities and minimize impacts arising from the construction and operation of the diamond mine.

“Now that De Beers is extracting our resources it is only fair that we have reached an agreement that provides benefits for our First Nation,” said Chief Patricia Faries-Akiwenzie.

This is the third community agreement that De Beers Canada has concluded for the Victor Mine and the seventh signed by the company in Canada. The previous IBA for Victor was formally signed with Attawapiskat First Nation in November 2005 and a Working Relationship Agreement with Taykwa Tagamou Nation was signed in May 2005.

De Beers Canada has concluded four additional Impact Benefit Agreements with local Aboriginal communities for the Snap Lake Mine in the Northwest Territories.

The Victor Mine and will be Ontario's first diamond mine, expected to produce six million carats during its twelve-year life span.

Slated to go online in the first quarter of 2008, it will be De Beers second diamond mine in Canada, following the opening of the Snap Lake Mine in the Northwest Territories in the fall of 2007.