The Ekati Diamond Mine, often simply called Ekati, is Canada's first surface and underground

diamond mine There are a limited number of commercially available diamond mines currently operating in the world, with the 50 largest mines accounting for approximately 90% of global supply. Diamonds are also mined alluvially over disperse areas, where dia ...

and is owned by

Burgundy Diamond Mines Burgundy Diamond Mines Limited is a Canadian mining company that sells diamonds from its Ekati Diamond Mine through rough sales to its polished and cut diamond sales office in Perth, Australia. Burgundy is publicly traded on the Australian Sto ...

. It is located north-east of

Yellowknife Yellowknife is the capital, largest community, and the only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the outlet of t ...

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

, and about south of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

, near

Lac de Gras Lac de Gras is a lake approximately north east of Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Lac de Gras was the centre of the diamond rush of the 1990s. There are two working, and one closed, diamond mines in the area, Diavik Diamon ...

. Until 2014, Ekati was a joint venture between Dominion Diamond Mines (80%), Chuck Fipke, and

Stewart Blusson Stewart Lynn "Stu" Blusson, (born 1939) is a Canadian businessman, geologist, investor, philanthropist, and prospector. He co-discovered the billion-dollar Ekati Diamond Mine, 300 kilometres from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. He s ...

, the two geologists who discovered kimberlite pipes north of Lac de Gras. Fipke and Blusson each held 10% stake in the mine, until Fipke sold his share to Dominion. In 2021, Arctic Canadian Diamond Company Ltd. acquired the Ekati Diamond Mine with associated assets and liabilities from Dominion Diamond Mines. In July 2023, Burgundy Diamond Mines purchased full control of Arctic Canadian Diamond Company.

History

The first

volcanic pipe Volcanic pipes or volcanic conduits are subterranean geology, geological structures formed by the violent, supersonic eruption of deep-origin volcanoes. They are considered to be a type of ''diatreme''. Volcanic pipes are composed of a deep, narro ...

found in the

region was the Point Lake kimberlite, discovered by Chuck Fipke and Stewart Blusson who had been prospecting in the region for almost ten years, having found

kimberlite Kimberlite is an igneous rock and a rare variant of peridotite. It is most commonly known as the main host matrix for diamonds. It is named after the town of Kimberley, Northern Cape, Kimberley in South Africa, where the discovery of an 83.5-Car ...

indicator minerals as early as 1985. The Point Lake kimberlite was determined to be uneconomic, but its discovery precipitated one of largest staking rushes in mining history, covering most of the area between Yellowknife and the Arctic coast. There are 156 known kimberlite pipes within the Ekati block of claims, including the Point Lake pipe. Ekati officially began operations on October 14, 1998, and was operated by

BHP BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. As of 2024, BHP was the world� ...

. Since the opening until 2017, the mine produced around of diamonds and is still in production. As of July 2023, the mine has been owned by

. There are currently three underground kimberlites (Koala, Koala North, and Panda) and the rest are mined by surface mining. As of 2024, the active operations include Sable and Misery underground with Point Lake ready to go into production as an open pits later in the year.

Geology

Diamonds at the Ekati site are found in 45- to 62-million-year-old kimberlite pipes (Creaser et al., 2004) of the

Lac de Gras kimberlite field The Lac de Gras kimberlite field is a group of Late Cretaceous to Eocene age diatremes in the Northwest Territories, Canada. The Eocene (ca. 55-50 Ma) age diatremes of the Lac de Gras kimberlite field support two world-class diamond mines called ...

, most of which lie underneath shallow lakes.

Mining and marketing

Between 1998 and 2009, the mine has produced of diamonds out of six open pits. As the high grade ore close to surface was depleted, development was completed to access the ore utilizing underground methods. The mine's current annual production is estimated to be approximately of diamonds. There are numerous options to extend the mine life at Ekati through 2028 including continuation of Misery underground at depth, evaluation alternatives for expansion at Point Lake, transforming Sable to an underground operation following open pit completion, exploring Fox as an underground opportunity and maximizing resources in the Fox stockpile. In addition, the underwater remote mining provides additional opportunities to extract diamonds through kimberlite pipes with a trial that will start at Lynx pit in 2025.

Transportation

Mine workers

fly-in fly-out Fly-in fly-out is a method of employing people in remote areas by flying them temporarily to the work site instead of relocating employees and their families permanently. It is often abbreviated to FIFO when referring to employment status. This i ...

through

Ekati Airport Ekati Airport is located at the Ekati Diamond Mine, Northwest Territories, Canada and is operated by Arctic Canadian Diamond Company Prior permission is required to land except in the case of an emergency. It is a busy aerodrome with blasting in ...

Gallery

Footnotes

References

* Creaser, R.A. et al., 2004. "Macrocrystal phlogopite Rb-Sr dates for the Ekati property kimberlites, Slave Province, Canada: evidence for multiple intrusive episodes in the Paleocene and Eocene", ''8th International Kimberlite Conference Selected Papers'', vol. 1, pp. 399–414. * Abraham, Carolyn, October 11, 2006.
X marks the spotlight for elusive benefactor
, Globe & Mail.
Stuart Blusson from the GSC to Ekati
* ]

External links

Official website

CanadaMark
{{Authority control 1998 establishments in the Northwest Territories Buildings and structures completed in 1998 Diamond mines in Canada Diatremes of the Northwest Territories Eocene volcanoes Mines in the Northwest Territories Open-pit mines Paleocene volcanoes Surface mines in Canada Underground mines in Canada