Dominion Diamond Corp. took full ownership of the Buffer Zone joint venture at the Ekati diamond mine in Canada's Northwest Territories.

The company struck a deal with Archon Minerals Ltd. to convert the latter's participating interest in the joint venture to a 2.3% royalty on all future gross revenue from production from the zone, according to separate June 5 releases.

As a result, Archon will not be required to contribute to any future CapEx, nor will it have to pay for any operating costs related to the zone. It will still also retain 100% of the approximately 200,000 cares of leases that were formerly part of the western Buffer Zone, as well as interests in other diamond exploration properties in the area.

Dominion, meanwhile, maintains an 88.9% ownership interest in the Core Zone joint venture.

The transaction provides ownership and funding certainty for the large scale Jay project, which is currently in the final stages of permitting, Dominion Chairman Jim Gowans said.

Dominion plans to spend about C$11 million on exploration in the Lac de Gras region for the fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2018.