Whiteouts, Ice Roads, and Wolverines: What Working at a Diamond Mine in the Far North Is Like
August 05, 2025 at 05:38PMIn this excerpt from This Rare Earth: Building the Dams, Mines, and Megaprojects That Run Our World, Jeremy Thomas Gilmer takes us deep into the unforgiving expanse of Canada’s Northwest Territories, home to the remote Diavik diamond mine. Though well-versed in the fly-in, fly-out rhythm of life here, Gilmer remains enthralled by this stark, icy wilderness and the resilient creatures that inhabit it—a place where beauty and brutality exist side by side. His admiration extends to the people who brave the perilous ice roads, hauling in vital supplies. With vivid, bone-chilling prose, Gilmer immerses readers in an environment as breathtaking as it is unforgiving.
The North provided more than its share of dangers, the first of these being the cold. Improperly dressed, forty below zero will kill a man in about thirty minutes; he is likely past the point of rescue after fifteen. Hypothermia and severe frostbite are an excellent tag team for death. Wind ups those risks substantially, dropping the actual temperature well past what a thermometer may tell you and adding to the air conduction of body heat.
One of the biggest hazards was whiteout—near zero or total loss of visibility caused by wind-whipped snow, turning the landscape into a blinding void. In a place where 300-ton haul trucks roamed, that kind of blindness wasn’t just disorienting; it was deadly. The mine dedicated days to training, much of it focused on staying safe around heavy equipment. From the cab of one of those towering trucks, the scale and danger became clear: a vehicle the size of a shipping container could be parked directly in front of you and still disappear from view. Operators spent weeks in simulators and trained closely with experienced drivers before being allowed to operate solo. Even then, accidents happened. Fatigue, distraction, or a moment of confusion could prove fatal when you were behind the controls of something that massive.
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2025/08/05/whiteouts-ice-roads-and-wolverines-what-working-at-a-diamond-mine-in-the-far-north-is-like/
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