(IDEX Online News) – Stornoway Diamond Corporation has outlined a revised construction schedule for its Renard Diamond Project, including a forecast reduction in cost.

The company said that construction of the project was running ahead of schedule, in conjunction with a revised mining plan at the project – now expected to be completed in the second quarter of this year.

The first ore delivery to the Renard diamond process plant is now expected to be delivered at the end of September, while the previous estimate was that commercial production would begin in the second quarter of 2017.

The cost of the project has been scaled down from C$811 million ($582 million) to C$775.4 ($556 million), reflecting savings in general and administrative expenses and capitalized operating expenses.

“This improvement in our development schedule at Renard has been made possible by the excellent construction environment we are in enjoying in Québec and the efficient progress made by our team. The reduced cost to complete adds further strength to our balance sheet, already boosted by the ongoing foreign exchange gains on the portion of our project financing that was funded or committed in US dollars,” said Stornoway president and CEO, Matt Manson.

The Renard Diamond Project is located 350 kilometers north of Chibougamau in the James Bay region of north-central Québec.