After 26 years of non-stop, 24/7 production, the Ekati Diamond Mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories recently surpassed the 100-million-carat milestone. That's equivalent to 22 tons of diamonds.
Ekati is Canada's first diamond mine and consistently ranks as one of the top-10 producers worldwide. Not only does the mine maintain a track record of generating four to five million carats per year, it also continues to yield top-quality rough diamonds, including extremely rare fancy yellows.
Back in March of 2023, Australia-based Burgundy Diamond Mines paid $136 million to acquire Arctic Canadian Diamond Company Ltd. and its prized Ekati property. Burgundy had been very familiar with the Canadian mining operation because it often purchased Ekati rough diamonds for its cutting and polishing operation in Perth, Australia.
Burgundy’s acquisition of Ekati guaranteed a steady flow of premium material from a tier-one asset in a tier-one country, according to Kim Truter, CEO of Burgundy Diamond Mines. It also solidified the company’s strategy of becoming truly vertically integrated across the diamond value chain.
“As we reflect on this historic achievement, Ekati continues the legacy as one of the premier diamond assets in the world,” said Truter. “We are proud of the team we have in place and of everything we have achieved so far. Ekati still has 140 million carats remaining in Indicated Mineral Resources, one of the largest unmined diamond endowments in the world."
Since opening in 1998, the Ekati mine has been an important economic contributor to Canada’s Northwest Territories through job creation and community investment.
According to miningnewsnorth.com, Ekati has generated more than 74 million man-hours of employment in the Northwest Territories, with approximately 35 million of those hours coming from 16,000-plus positions held by Indigenous workers.
As the mining operation advances into its second quarter-century, Burgundy will focus its resources on various projects within the Ekati property, including the Misery underground extension, Sable Underground, Point Lake open pit, Fox high-value stockpiles, Fox underground and other undeveloped resources.
Located approximately 300 km northwest of Yellowknife in Canada’s Northwest Territories and just 200 km south of the Arctic Circle, the remote mining operation is accessible seasonally via ice roads.
Credits: Images courtesy of Burgundy Diamond Mines.