Ekati Diamond Mine

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The Ekati Diamond Mine, often simply called Ekati, is Canada's first surface and underground diamond mine<ref name="northern star">Template:Cite journal</ref> and is owned by Burgundy Diamond Mines. It is located Template:Cvt north-east of Yellowknife,<ref name="winston">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Northwest Territories, and about Template:Cvt south of the Arctic Circle, near Lac de Gras. Until 2014, Ekati was a joint venture between Dominion Diamond Mines (80%), Chuck Fipke, and Stewart Blusson, the two geologists who discovered kimberlite pipes north of Lac de Gras.<ref>Brooke Clements; The Canadian Diamond Business: 25 Years and Going Strong. SEG Discovery 2017;; (108): 1–18. doi: https://doi.org/10.5382/SEGnews.2017-108.fea</ref> Fipke and Blusson each held 10% stake in the mine, until Fipke sold his share to Dominion.<ref name="FPKoven">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="northern star"/> 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.<ref name=sale>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

HistoryEdit

The first volcanic pipe found in the Lac de Gras region was the Point Lake kimberlite,<ref>Erlich, E., Dan Hausel, W. (2002) Diamond deposits: origin, exploration, and history of discovery. Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc. (SME), Littleton, CO.</ref> discovered by Chuck Fipke and Stewart Blusson who had been prospecting in the region for almost ten years, having found kimberlite indicator minerals as early as 1985.<ref name="northern star"/> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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. Since the opening until 2017, the mine produced around Template:Cvt of diamonds and is still in production.

As of July 2023, the mine has been owned by Burgundy Diamond Mines.<ref name=sale/> There are currently three underground kimberlites (Koala, Koala North, and Panda) and the rest are mined by surface mining.<ref>Jakubec, J, Lagace, D, Boggis, B, Clark, LM & Lewis, PA 2018, 'Underground mining at Ekati and Diavik diamond mines', in Y Potvin & J Jakubec (eds), Caving 2018: Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Block and Sublevel Caving, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp. 73-88, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_rep/1815_03_Jakubec</ref> 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.

GeologyEdit

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, most of which lie underneath shallow lakes.

Mining and marketingEdit

Between 1998 and 2009, the mine has produced Template:Cvt of diamonds out of six open pits.<ref name="northern star"/> 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 Template:Cvt of diamonds.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.

TransportationEdit

Mine workers fly-in fly-out through Ekati Airport.

GalleryEdit

FootnotesEdit

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ReferencesEdit

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
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External linksEdit

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