Traffic on Diamond Mine Winter Road Hits New Record

A record 9,400 trucks laden with 282,000 tons of fuel, cement, prill, and other freight bound for three Canadian Arctic diamond mines have made the journey so far this season on the Tibbit to Contwoyto Winter Road.

According to the road’s Joint Venture Management Committee (JVMC), typically cold temperatures coupled with ongoing maintenance mean previous records set in 2001 and 2002 have been exceeded.

In 2006, record warm weather forced an early closure of the road.

JVMC estimates over 10,000 truckloads of fuel, explosives, equipment, and other freight will be transported to the Ekati, Diavik, and Tahera diamond mines, as well as to the Snap Lake mine construction project, exploration sites, and tourist camps.

In addition to northbound loads, this year there have also been 544 loads of freight trucked south.