Ekati Diamond Mine completes water licence amalgamation and renewal

The water licence for the Sable, Pigeon and Beartooth kimberlite pits at the Ekati Mine in the Northwest Territories, one of Canada’s largest diamond producers, was due for renewal as of August 2009. The Wek’èezhìi Land and Water Board quickly made it clear that their preference would be to amalgamate all the water licences at Ekati into one master water licence, and on their own motion ordered that such an amalgamation be undertaken. The company did not object to such an amalgamation so long as the terms in the licence associated with the main Ekati Site remained unchanged. The Board agreed with the approach put forward by the company and, as a result, the regulatory process and public hearing focused on potential changes to clauses associated with Sable Pigeon and Beartooth. At the end of the process the Board recommended and the Minister approved a relatively short term licence to match the already established end date for the main Ekati water licence, August 2013. Fasken Martineau was counsel to BHP Billiton throughout the regulatory process, including the public hearings, with a team which included Kevin O’Callaghan and Will Westeringh.