Supreme Steel Ltd arrived on-site at Diavik Mines on May 7th 2001, and began what would be a year and a half of challenging and diverse construction operations.

The first hurdle to overcome was to start the cladding installation for the Sewage treatment plant. The buildings that were cladded during the summer of 2001 included the Sewage treatment plant (May-June), the Boiler house (July), the Power plant (August), the Raw Water treatment plant (September) and the massive Process plant (July to October). Less urgent work continued into November and December on the covered utility corridor towers and the Maintenance complex, as the bitter Arctic weather permitted. Concerns about schedules and weather were forgotten as pleasant, full summer stretched on into September and as stalwart cladding crews braved the scattered stormy days and pushed production past all of the milestones.

Soon after the cladding installation was initiated, Supreme Steel Ltd began to prepare for the construction of the Process plant. By the beginning of June, a complete erection team had been assembled and was ready to begin putting up columns. Erection of the structure continued from June to October, including the erection of the exterior structures, the massive overhead crane girders, interior bin support structures, and the bins themselves.

Work on the Process plant interior steel continued until the summer of 2002. Cladding on the remaining site structures continued throughout the spring, summer and fall of 2002. The Accommodations complex was completed in the summer of 2002.

The work performed by Supreme Steel Ltd at the site included the erection of the Process plant structural steel, the installation of the insulating sheets (cladding) that form the siding of all the buildings, and the erection of the structural steel of the Accommodations complex. Everyone was excited
to begin the construction, and to follow-up on the busy winter: fabrication of the Process plant exterior in Edmonton, fabrication of the Accommodations complex in Saskatoon,
with supply of the cladding from California.