Victor Diamond Mine

The Victor Mine was the first Canadian diamond mine located in Ontario, and De Beers' second diamond mine in Canada (after the Snap Lake Diamond Mine). It is located in the Northern Ontario Ring of Fire, in the James Bay Lowlands 90 kilometres (56 mi) west of Attawapiskat in the remote northern part of the province. In June 2005, the Attawapiskat First Nation voted in favour (85.5%) of ratifying the Impact Benefit Agreement (IBA). Construction of the mine began in February 2006 which created 3200 positions; mining and operations will create around 400 permanent positions. The Victor Mine is an open-pit mine, with a processing plant, workshops, and an airstrip located on site. By 2013–2014 royalties collected from De Beers Victor Mine amounted to $226. At that time De Beers was continuing to pay off its "$1 billion investment to build the mine and from now until it closes, the company expects to pay tens of millions of dollars in royalties." The mine completed mining and processing in 2019 and has moved to a shut-down phase including demolition of infrastructure and rehabilitation of the site.