Canada's mild winter disrupts key ice road to remote Arctic diamond mines

The winter road is seen in the background of an aerial photograph of Rio Tinto's Diavik Diamond Mine in the North Slave Region of Lac de Gras, Northwest Territories, Canada February 12, 2015. Rio Tinto/Handout via REUTERS.

TORONTO (Reuters) - An unusually warm winter in Canada this year has delayed the opening of a 400-kilometer (250-mile) ice road that is rebuilt every year as the main conduit for Rio Tinto, Burgundy Mines , and De Beers to access their diamond mines in the remote Arctic region.

The Winter Road, which serves the region accessible only by air for 10 months of the year, opened with a two-week delay in the middle of February, disrupting movement of goods along the ice road built over 64 frozen lakes.