Ownership of Canada’s biggest diamond mine is up in the air again. Anglo American has put a US $4.9 billion price tag on its 85 percent share of De Beers and confirmed on Oct 24 that Angola’s state miner Endiama is in contention. The bid lands while Canada still counts on De Beers to keep Gahcho Kué in the Northwest Territories running until at least 2031 and to finish the C$110 million Snap Lake clean-up now 96 percent complete.
Anglo American’s timing looks self-serving. In February it reduced De Beers’ value by US $2.9 billion after back-to-back weak diamond markets, then said a spin-off could wait for “the end of the year.” Eight months later, it is fielding offers anyway, dumping uncertainty on every regulator still holding Anglo’s reclamation bonds in Canada’s North.
Permits Decide Pace
The Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board holds roughly C$80 million in security against Snap Lake’s water licence and expects weekly closure reports. If Endiama takes over, those funds stay put, but every surety bond would need fresh signatures. Even a paperwork lag can stall road building on the winter haul route that feeds Gahcho Kué, a road that cost the operators C$25 million to open last season and opened two weeks late thanks to warm weather. The board can suspend a licence if the bond lapses, which would choke off explosives and diesel within days.
It’s a familiar scenario for Canada. Anglo halted Snap Lake in 2015, laid off 400 people, and has spent ten years retreating from the site one diesel spill at a time. Now it wants out of De Beers altogether while merging its copper and coal arm with Teck in a US $53 billion share swap that still needs Ottawa’s blessing. The merger soaks up senior management bandwidth and pushes diamond issues even lower on Anglo’s list.
Cost Lives In The Contracts
Gahcho Kué is still good for 36 million carats and roughly C$600 million in after-tax cash to Mountain Province, De Beers’ 49 percent partner, but only if pit wall steepening and mill tweaks stay on schedule. An ownership change means every supply contract, First Nation benefits agreement, and explosives permit gets a “change-of-control” review. That review can stall blasting for weeks and freeze cash flow faster than a northern ice road.
Angola forced diamond exporters to sell through its state exchange in 2022 and still runs under presidential decrees. Any slip could see Ottawa’s Investment Canada Act kick in, and that tool lets the federal cabinet kill a deal if national security or critical-minerals strategy looks shaky. The act is blunt, but regulators have used it before to block Chinese state buyers from Arctic mining assets.
Anglo says shedding diamonds will let it chase copper with Teck, but Canada hears a different message: when prices sag, Anglo walks. The federal and territorial governments will decide whether Endiama can step into that gap. Until they do, every truckload of ammonium nitrate rolling up the Ingraham Trail carries a little more risk premium and a lot more paperwork.
Canada needs a steady operator more than a grand promise. Anglo has not been that operator for a decade, and Angola has not proved it can be. The mines will keep digging, but the clock on every permit keeps ticking louder.
