Update 8:35 p.m.: The presumptive COVID-19 test at Gahcho Kué was a false positive, according to the Chief Public Health Officer.

Dr. Kami Kandola said the results were confirmed with the GNWT's own rapid testing machines, and it was found the positive test that had been reported at Gahcho Kué was false.

The presumptive positive had only been reported earlier today. The result was returned far quicker than confirmation of the two presumptive COVID-19 cases in Yellowknife – which were confirmed positive. It took those results four days to be returned.

The false-positive result was confirmed by Kandola during a press conference Wednesday evening.

That happened because the territory's rapid testing machines were in the process of being validated on Monday. The validation was completed on Monday.

Update 4:30 p.m.:  The worker who tested positive at Gahcho Kué mine is a resident of Yellowknife and contact tracing has started.

Immediate household members of the individual and identified contacts were quickly informed and directed to isolate, and given appropriate public health advice, according to Julie Green, the Minister for Health.

Public Health has arranged for immediate testing of these contacts.  

Testing conducted upon the arrival of a new team of miners found one presumptive case of COVID-19 at Gahcho Kué mine.

The new group of miners arrived at the mine — 280 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife — on Monday, where they were tested for COVID-19.

One of the miners, who arrived on a flight from Yellowknife, tested positive for COVID-19 and is now self-isolating in the “dedicated quarantine wing” of the mine, according to a statement from De Beers, the company who owns and operates the mine.

The statement adds that 18 other miners who had travelled from Yellowknife with the individual are also self-isolating, “out of an abundance of caution.” Those 18 miners tested negative upon arrival.

De Beers is working with the GNWT and the chief public health officer, and is conducting follow-up testing on any workers at the mine who may have been impacted.

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De Beers Canada announced today it has entered a $107 million agreement to acquire 100 per cent of the outstanding securities of Peregrine Diamonds Ltd (TSX: PGD).

Peregrine Diamonds owns the high-quality Chidliak diamond resource in Nunavut.
The Chidliak resource was discovered in 2008 and is about 120 kilometres northeast of Iqaluit on Baffin Island.  A total of 74 kimberlite pipes have been identified at Chidliak, including the CH-6 and CH-7 pipes. These are the current focus of Peregrine's Chidliak Phase One Diamond Development programme, which has a total Inferred Mineral Resource in excess of 22 million carats.

Peregrine's recent Preliminary Economic Assessment for Chidliak points to the high quality of the CH-6 deposit in particular. An estimated grade of 2.41 carats per tonne and a diamond valuation of US$151 per carat (equating to approximately US$360 per tonne) make CH-6 one of the most attractive undeveloped diamond resources in Canada.

Peregrine also has exploration properties elsewhere in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

“This investment reinforces De Beers Group's long-term commitment to Canada, following our investment in the Gahcho Kué diamond mine, which entered commercial production last year," says Kim Truter, CEO, De Beers Canada.

"Chidliak is a high value prospect and the Peregrine team has done great work to bring it to this advanced stage. With the transformation of our company in Canada over the past two years, our focused investment in new and innovative mining methods, and our expertise in Canada's arctic environments, we believe we are very well positioned to now develop the resource further,” says Truter. 

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Dr. Seuss once wrote, "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."

Today, De Beers Canada donated 700 children's books to Stanton Territorial Hospital. The books will be given to young families throughout the year in what is being called the 'Books for Babies' program.

De Beers' Gahcho Kué Mine General Manager Allan Rodel said the program was a natural extension of the previous ‘Books in Homes’ program that began 15 years ago.

"It is all about building a legacy through educating generations. We have seen the tremendous response to our De Beers Books in Homes program in students from kindergarten right through to Grade 12, so we felt we could also make a positive impact regarding the value and love of reading by providing these terrific books for younger children in the Northwest Territories as well."

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Families will receive one of two books by Tłı̨chǫ author Richard Van Camp: 'Welcome Song for Baby' and 'Little You'.

Van Camp said he's pleased his work can be experienced by a generation of readers.

"A family that reads together grows together in the most wonderful ways and I am grateful my words will be with families across the north as they grow and dream together. I hope every family has much happiness and fun singing and reading and snuggling and cuddling and kissing and giving thanks every day for all of our children, as they bloom so beautifully into the full miracles that they are."

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The winners of the De Beers Inspired Ice were announced late yesterday.

According to De Beers Canada, the top three teams were just 1.5 points apart in the final scoring.

Attached are the photos of the event. Awesome job to everyone involved!

[caption id="attachment_28444" align="alignnone" width="300"] 5th Place. Dan Lowing of Philadelphia and Dan Rebholz of Chicago.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_28443" align="alignnone" width="300"] 4th Place. Ed Hutchinon of Greenville, SC, and Kaitlin Pfropper of Fraser, Michigan.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_28442" align="alignnone" width="300"] 3rd Place. Aaron Costic and Jeff Meyers of Broadview, Ohio.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_28440" align="alignnone" width="300"] 2nd Place. Peter Slavin of Philadelphia and Chris Swarbrick of Ellsworth, Wisconsin.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_28439" align="alignnone" width="300"] 1st Place. Junichi Nakamura of Japan and Shinichi Sawamura of Fairbanks, Alaska[/caption]

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Two Northwest Territories organizations are benefiting from the extended-care closure of the Snap Lake Mine.

The organizations received what is considered a surplus of equipment. The total value is reported at $215 000.

A scoop-tram that was used to load ore underground, two underground Toyota multi-utility trucks, and several sets of heavy duty wheel chocks have been provided by De Beers to the Aurora College Mining Program. The equipment is worth over $190 000.

Two modular construction trailers, worth $25 000, were donated to Habitat for Humanity NWT. The trailers are expected to be used at the ReStore located beside the City of Yellowknife’s solid waste management facility.

Erik Madsen, General Manager of Sustainability for De Beers Canada, said De Beers is focused on creating a lasting legacy in the North.

"Both Aurora College and Habitat for Humanity have a huge impact on the people and communities of the NWT," said Madsen. "We would also like to thank our business partner Det’on Cho Logistics for their assistance in transporting the items to the College and Habitat for Humanity."

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Aurora College will be utilizing the scoop-tram and trucks at their Thebacha Campus in Fort Smith. The school just received a new $10 million centre for Mine and Industry Training, which is currently under construction.

"Being able to train students on real-world equipment similar to what they will encounter on the job site better prepares them for employment opportunities at the NWT diamond mines," said Jane Arychuk, President of Aurora College. "Donations of equipment, such as the scoop from De Beers, also helps keep our costs down, which allows us to run more programs."

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This is the second scoop-tram De Beers has donated to the College.

"Adding a second scoop to our programs could allow our students to have more 'seat time' in the equipment," explained Mike MacPherson, Aurora College’s Program Head of Mining and Industrial Training.

A new Underground Miner training program is scheduled to begin in April 2018.

Snap Lake Mine is on extended care and maintenance which made this surplus equipment available.

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De Beers Canada is looking to make progress.

Not in the mines necessarily, but rather in this particular instance, among their staff.

"People have this belief that mining is just, 'going into holes with a pickaxe and coming out covered in coal'"

Women in De Beers make up roughly 20% of their total staff.

De Beers is now partnering with UN Women to change that.

A luncheon was held on Friday for female Yellowknife and Behchoko high students.

A representative for De Beers spoke about the possibilities for women to get into the mining business.

"People have this belief that mining is just, 'going into holes with a pickaxe and coming out covered in coal'," she said. "Clearly, there's more than just the mining side of it. We want women here to come away knowing there are opportunities in Engineering, or Science, or Mathematics with our company."

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De Beers will be giving scholarships to go to the University of Waterloo in Ontario. The scholarships will be for STEM programs at the University.

The company's target is to raise their female employee numbers by 2020.

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De Beers Canada has signed a new services contract.

The partnership will be with the Det'on Cho Corporation and the Yellowknives Dene First Nation.

The term of the contract is 3-years, with an option for an extension.

"This is another example of a Tier 1 contract being awarded to an Indigenous business by De Beers in the Northwest Territories," said Kim Truter, CEO of De Beers Canada. "This will create jobs and new opportunities for the Det’on Cho Corporation and the YKDFN."

The DCC team will now provide workers to maintain the Snap Lake Mine.

Snap Lake was placed on Care and Maintenance in December of 2015.

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The De Beers Group of Companies has signed a 3-year partnership with UN Women.

The partnership includes a national program that will have two scholarships with the University of Waterloo in Ontario. These scholarships will work on supporting female students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics) programs.

Beginning in 2018, De Beers will also become involved in the University of Waterloo’s outreach programs for girls, including Waterloo’s IMPACT camp for Indigenous girls.

De Beers said, "a strong component of all programs in Canada will include a focus on Indigenous females, especially those from the regions where De Beers operates in Canada."

The Waterloo partnership will be used as a model for other universities across Canada.

With the current two scholarships, there will be an additional 14 for the start of the 2018-2019 school year. Those will be with other schools located across Canada.

A committee made up of the University of Waterloo, UN Women and De Beers Canada will be formed in October.

The two UW scholarships will be announced this school semester.

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The De Beers Canada mining auction is just days away.

De Beers' Snap Lake Mine is in the final stages of direct negotiation sale through TCL Asset Group on behalf of De Beers Canada. The remaining items will be sold next week.

An early viewing of the items will take place on Monday between 9:00am - 4:00pm.

Registration will be from 9:00am - 10:00am on both Tuesday and Wednesday. The auction will begin immediately after.

It's all happening at the Explorer Hotel.

You can read more on the auction here.

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Auctions tend to be grandiose by nature.

You're buying things at an accelerated speed, with competition raising the stakes.

It's not everyday that the average person gets to attend an auction where the sum of all parts exceeds $30 million.

"That's the estimated value of these items," says Tom Ormsby, Head of External & Corporate Affairs for De Beers Canada. "There's interest from companies from all around the world. It's not just big, heavy equipment though. We have everyday tools, trucks... There's a fire truck for sale, it's quite unique."

The equipment is coming from the Snap Lake Mine, which closed down late 2015. The equipment has since been shipped out for the auction.

Ormsby, flying to Calgary before briefly coming back to Yellowknife, says that you don't even have to show up to participate.

"It's really interesting how they did it. You can do it in 2 ways: you can participate in person or you can do it online. When you show up to register, you can view the items ahead of time. But they're doing it online to allow for international bidders to join in with the live bid."

With auctions, the idea of 'buyer beware' comes to mind. You're in the position of likely buying used equipment. Ormsby says that when it comes to this particular auction, with this Mine, that's not the case.

"This Mine was working up until when it was shut down. You also have a whole lot of stuff that was untouched and unused because they were just shipped in and not used before the shutdown. So, in that sense, you could be saving lots because the equipment is brand new."

Ormsby added: "The cost of moving these items to the North is also very expensive. You're saving a lot of money by having it already in the North."

Registering is done on July 31st, and the full event will take place on August 1st and 2nd at The Explorer Hotel.

The full item list can be found here.

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