Project Feature: Rio Tinto

Construction of a 3.5 MW DC solar array Location: Diavik Diamond Mine, Northwest Territories Project Completion: 2024 The Diavik Diamond Mine is Canada’s largest diamond mine, located about 300 km northeast of Yellowknife. Solvest completed the construction of the largest off-grid solar project in Canada from March to June 2024, facing extreme weather conditions with strong winds and temperatures reaching colder than -30C at times. Tlicho citizens were trained in solar construction and accounted for about 25% of the workforce and provided heavy equipment operators. The solar project is expected to reduce diesel use by 1 million liters per year and reduce emissions by 2,900 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The solar plant will provide up to 25% of Diavik’s electricity during remediation activities. Rio Tinto is the world’s 2nd largest mining company.