Winter Road NewsDiavik Diamond Mines Inc., P.O. Box 2498, 5007 - 50th Avenue, Yellowknife, NT, X1A 2P8, 867-669-6500, fax 867-669-6575
BHP Billiton Diamonds Inc. 1102, 4920, 52nd Street, Yellowknife, NT X1A 3T1, 867-669-9292, fax 867-669-9293
NEWS RELEASE
TIBBITT TO CONTWOYTO WINTER ROAD UPDATE
(Yellowknife, March 24, 2006) The Joint Venture Management Committee (the JVMC) of the
Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road Joint Venture reports that monitoring of ice conditions along
the road has revealed strength sufficient to allow some limited trucking.
While the weather continues to be unseasonably warm, it has held consistent for the past few
days, and with the halt in traffic over the past few days, ice conditions at the critical Waite Lake
area appear to have stabilized. As a result, the JVMC engineers and constructors allowed thirty
loads, made up of light, critical equipment and materials to travel northward late last night. The
loads were apportioned to all users of the road.
If the ice remains stable and the portages do not deteriorate during the coming days, additional
light loads may be transported at night when cooler temperatures prevail. It is the JVMC’s hope
that the weather will eventually turn cool and allow additional and perhaps heavier loads to be
transported before spring forces final closure of the road. While opportunities may appear to
truck critical light loads, no fuel or ammonium nitrate prill will be transported over the road.
These materials will be flown by the various project sites as they may require them.
Decisions are also being made with respect to the many loaded trucks and drivers that have been
delayed in Yellowknife waiting for road improvements. Individual companies have indicated
they will compensate trucking companies for demurrage, or waiting costs.
Since the road opened, there have now been just over 6,800 loads shipped north on the winter
road. The JVMC originally projected that over 9,000 truck loads of fuel, ammonium nitrate prill,
construction supplies and equipment, and assorted freight would be shipped over the road.
The Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road is managed by a Joint Management Committee currently
comprising Diavik Diamond Mines Inc. and BHP Billiton Diamonds Inc. The JMC is committed
to constructing, operating and maintaining the winter road in a safe and environmentally
responsible manner. For more information on the status of the winter road, contact Tom Hoefer,
Manager of External & Internal Affairs at Diavik Diamond Mines Inc., Tel: 867-669-6518.