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An unusually warm winter in Canada this year has delayed the opening of a 400-kilometre ice road that is rebuilt every year as the main conduit for Rio Tinto, Burgundy Mines and De Beers to access their diamond mines in the remote Arctic region.
It also highlights the infrastructure hurdle for the NWT and Nunavut that are positioning themselves as the next frontiers in the exploration of critical metals, such as rare earth, cobalt and lithium, in the transition to a greener future. On warmer days, the engineers have found ways to trick nature by creating artificial ice using giant sprinklers to spray water high up in the air so that they cool and form thick layer of ice when they fall.
De Beers and Burgundy Diamonds said operations at their mines have not been affected by the mild winter. Rio Tinto declined comment.
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