De Beers secures government funding for carbon capture research project
Posted July 24, 2019 11:12 am.
CALGARY — De Beers Group has secured federal government funding for a research project aimed at eventually making its diamond mines carbon neutral.
The company says the $675,000 from Natural Resources Canada will go towards testing carbon capture techniques at its Gahcho Kue mine in the Northwest Territories.
De Beers is working with several Canadian universities to look at ways to capture the carbon in kimberlite, the type of rock that hosts the diamonds at the mine.
The project aims to accelerate the natural process where carbon binds to the rock and traps it as a solid carbonate mineral.
Greg Dipple, a University of British Columbia professor leading the collaborative research project, says in a release that the government funding will allow testing of the lab-proven techniques at scale at the actual mine site.
De Beers Group CEO Bruce Cleaver says the funding will help accelerate a project that could make a substantial change to the mining industry’s climate impact.
The Canadian Press
