Talk:Kelsey Lake Diamond Mine

Mining Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Mining, a collaborative project to organize and improve articles related to mining and mineral industries. If you would like to participate, you can edit the attached article, or visit the project page, where you can see a list of open tasks, join in the discussion, or join the project.MiningWikipedia:WikiProject MiningTemplate:WikiProject MiningMining articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

United States: Colorado Low‑importance

	United States portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions. Template Usage Articles Requested! Become a Member Project Talk Alerts United StatesWikipedia:WikiProject United StatesTemplate:WikiProject United StatesUnited States articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	Colorado portal This article is supported by WikiProject Colorado, our collaboration to improve, create, and update Wikipedia articles about the U.S. State of Colorado. To comment about this article, select the New section tab above. For questions about, or to make suggestions for Colorado articles, go to our project's talk page. We invite you to join us!

Closed? Open?[edit]

The article states that the mine is defunct, and despite this page [1] that says the mine was shut in 2002 due to legal troubles, this article [2] from 2006 says that exports from Colorado to Israel are up 58% due to diamonds from the Kelsey Lake Mine. I'm assuming these haven't just been sitting around for 3 years but I can't find any other info on whether this mine has been reopened. Does anyone know anything? Killian441 (talk) 22:24, 8 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Looks like it closed in 2002 permanently and the site was reclaimed (I added a blurb). Maybe there were some diamonds stockpiled and were shipped to Israel in 2005? -Gump Stump (talk) 05:05, 11 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The mineral yearbook you quoted does seem like it should know what its talking about, but it is compiled from news sources among others and maybe repeating an erroneous report. It doesn't site a source for quote about the mine having been reclaimed. I found a report of all the mining permits issued in Colorado here [3] which, if you scroll down to the Larimer county records, show the Kelsey Lake Project owned by Great Western Diamond Company was issued a permit in 1993 and has a current status of AC, which I believe means active. I googled the address and it is associated with McKenzie Bay. This isn't conclusive evidence that the mine actually producing, and I won't change the article until I can find something more conclusive, but I still think that this issue may require more research. -Killian441 (talk) 22:55, 11 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

It would make sense that the permits are active (I imagine McKenzie Bay is holding the rights to the land in the off chance that somebody else approaches them for a joint venture, or diamond prices go through the roof, etc.) Hell, if it wasn't permitted I'd try to get the rights for myself! I think the site was actually reclaimed though. If you check the map utility on the Colorado mines website (here) the information for Kelsey Lake says that it was last inspected in 2006, and that its "post-mining" status is rangeland. Google Earth imagery (which shouldn't be more than 5 years old) shows no pits or buildings or vehicles at the mine site. Also, if McKenzie Bay was mining it I'm sure they'd say something about it on their website. A working mine is an asset they would want to show off to investors. By the way, thanks for your improvements to the article--it's nice to see someone else has an interest in this! -Gump Stump (talk) 01:46, 13 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I was thrown off because I thought McKenzie Bay had sold the operation. Your evidence was very compelling. On a hunch I found McKenzie Bay's filings on the SECs website and it confirmed what you said. I added a little information about the lawsuit that caused the sale to fall through and added a reference to that SEC filing. -Killian441 (talk) 18:12, 14 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]