De Beers plans to settle with Clark Builders after $1.1M lawsuit filed
De Beers Canada says it will settle an account that led Edmonton-based Clark Builders to sue the company.
Clark Builders had sued De Beers Canada for close to $1.1 million for what it described as unpaid work plus additional costs at the Gahcho Kue mine in the Northwest Territories.
Clark Builders filed the suit in the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories on July 12, claiming $820,000 worth of unpaid work. The company also asked for an additional $250,000 in damages.
In court documents, Clark Builders said it entered into a contract with De Beers in March 2017 to build a concrete foundation for an ammonium nitrate bulk storage facility at Gahcho Kue.
The company stated De Beers was responsible for providing equipment and building materials for the project, as well as transporting workers from Edmonton to the mine, which is about 280 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife. It says the work was scheduled to be done by August 2017.
But the suit claims De Beers forced the company to postpone the work several times. It claims De Beers failed to complete the necessary groundwork required for the foundation to be constructed.
Clark Builders also claims De Beers didn't give the proper supplies to do the work and changed its pick-up location for the company's employees from Edmonton to Calgary.
'Common practice,' De Beers says
None of these allegations have been proven in court and De Beers did not submit a statement of defence.
De Beers acknowledges a contract existed between the two companies for work at the mine.
"That contract was eventually terminated near completion and we have been in discussion with Clark Builders to settle the final account, which is a common practice in project work," stated Tom Ormsby, head of external and corporate affairs for De Beers Canada.
"In fact, Clark Builders has proposed meetings in September to discussing the final close out of the account."
Clark Builders did not provide comment on the suit.
The two parties are scheduled to appear in a Yellowknife courtroom on Sept. 14.
