De Beers Group is providing an immediate $50,000 contribution to support wildfire relief in the Northwest Territories.
This donation to the United Way NWT Emergency Response Fund is in addition to $20,000 contributed earlier this year, bringing the total contribution to support wildfire relief in the NWT this year to $70,000. The company is also considering how else it can support the residents of the NWT.
Erik Madsen, Lead – Corporate Affairs for De Beers Group Managed Operations (Canada), said: “Our hearts go out to everyone who has been forced from their homes and who have lost their homes and businesses during this unprecedented wildfire season. We are also working closely with our more than 40 Gahcho Kué colleagues who have evacuated from Hay River, Fort Smith, Enterprise, and Jean Marie River.”
About 30 per cent of the Gahcho Kué workforce lives in Yellowknife and the company is watching the situation in the NWT capital city very closely.
On NWT evacuations: Over the past few days De Beers Group has watched with deep concern the growing extent of the unprecedented wildfires in the Northwest Territories (NWT) which have led to the evacuation of eight communities.
De Beers Group’s Gahcho Kué mine and the Snap Lake mine closure project are both located in the NWT – while both sites are more than 200km away from Yellowknife and are not threatened by wildfire, the territory is home to more than 200 De Beers Group employees, many of whom live in the impacted communities.
With the safety and wellbeing of employees and their families affected by the situation in the NWT top of mind, De Beers Group is working to support employees affected by the evacuations to enable them to be with their loved ones during this extremely difficult time.
The company also expresses is deepest gratitude to the fire fighters, military personnel, and other first responders working to stop the wildfires in the NWT, and to those supporting the evacuations.
In the meantime, operations at Gahcho Kué and active closure activities at Snap Lake are continuing.
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