BHP's Expansion Plans for Canadian Diamond Mine Run into Red Tape

The Australian press is reporting that BHP’s expansion plans for its profitable Ekati diamond mine in Canada, which began production in late 1998, have fallen victim to bureaucratic difficulties. BHP would like to expand the mine from the one pipe that it is currently operating. BHP’s vice president Bill Zimmerman, said that “It is disheartening that we believe it will take as much as three years for us to complete the approval process to add three, small additional pipes to a project that has already been approved and is operating.” Mr. Zimmerman called on the Canadian government to streamline the approval process. The article noted that he blames delays on issues of overlapping governmental jurisdictions and native title claims. The mine generated an operating profit of C$119 million on sales of C$153 million and represents about 5% of the world’s diamond production.