Stornoway Diamond is pleased to announce the completion of pre-operational verification (“POV”) at the Renard Project diamond process plant and the formal commencement of plant commissioning.
All principal plant equipment and control systems have now been installed and tested, and the hand-over from Stornoway’s construction management team to the plant operating staff has been completed.
The commissioning of the process plant will involve the operation of the plant’s crushers, vibrating screens, conveyors, pumps, diamond recovery circuits, and processed kimberlite management systems first with water ("wet commissioning") and then ore. This process is expected to take several weeks.
Matt Manson, President and CEO, commented: "The formal commencement of plant commissioning is a major milestone for the Renard Project and our construction management team.
It has been achieved approximately 8 weeks ahead of our re-baselined construction schedule, which was already a 5 month improvement on the execution plan established in July 2014.
As many construction staff and contractors now demobilize from the project site, we take this opportunity to congratulate them on a mining project that has been built with efficiency, professionalism and quality throughout."
The Renard Diamond Project is located approximately 250 km north of the Cree community of Mistissini and 350 km north of Chibougamau in the James Bay region of north-central Québec.
On July 8, 2014, Stornoway announced the completion of a $946 million project financing transaction to fully fund the project to production, and construction commenced on July 10, 2014.