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Diamond giant De Beers has shuttered its Snap Lake mine in the Northwest Territories, which was suffering due to low prices and unique technical challenges.

The move puts more than 400 people out of work, and is a major blow to the economy of the Northwest Territories. Snap Lake is one of the three pillars of the territory’s diamond mining industry, along with the Ekati and Diavik mines.

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The sector accounted for more than 15 per cent of the NWT’s gross domestic product last year.

De Beers is currently building Gahcho Kue, which will be the territory’s fourth diamond mine. The company has already transferred 41 employees from Snap Lake to Gahcho Kue, and hopes to move dozens more in the months ahead. But the majority of the workforce, which numbered about 800 people, are losing their jobs.

Snap Lake had problems since it opened in 2008 and was never profitable. Unlike Ekati and Diavik, which began as open-pit mines and later moved underground, Snap Lake was underground from the start. Underground mines are generally higher-cost than open-pit mines, and overall costs in the North are far higher than they are in less remote jurisdictions. Snap Lake is more than 200 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife.