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Canada - Temperature
Canada - Jet Stream
Canada - Wind-chill

Weather affects costs, comfort, and feasibility

Timing of work can save money. Try gathering samples from a frozen lake or stream! Cold winters freeze lakes hard so that drilling can be done in the middle of the lake with no floating platform.

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Winter Drilling at Gaucho Kué, NWT

The Gahcho Kué in the Northwest Territories is a joint venture between De Beers and Mountain Province Diamonds. The early commissioning of the ice road from Yellowknife enabled the project team to expand this winter's drilling (2002) program and as a result several extra drill holes were completed before the ice road to the camp closed. The objective of this winter's work is to recover 2000 carats that will be used to build understanding of diamond size and frequency distribution and to increase the accuracy of the revenue estimates.

Drilling on Ice: Notes from a Remote Site

A crew of ice engineers is being mobilized to the camp to begin to thicken the drill pads, which require 90 inches (230 cm) of ice in order to support the large drills. The drilling of 10 large diameter drill holes (five into each pipe) is expected to sample between 1400 and 1700 tonnes of kimberlite and generate at least a total of 2000-2500 carats. A drill with a diameter of 24 inches (600 mm), compared to 12-inch drills used in 1999 sampling program, will be used to drill to depths of up to 300 meters. The drill method to be used is a flood reverse system that is “diamond friendly” and should give the best available product out of each drill hole.