Australia

Africa

Angola

Botswana

Namibia

South Africa

Sierra Leone

Canada

Russia

The mine is a joint venture between BHP Diamonds Inc. (51 per cent), Dia Met Minerals Ltd. (29 per cent), and two geologists, Charles E. Fipke and Stewart Blusson (10 per cent each). BHP Diamonds is part of BHP World Minerals, one of the eight main business groups of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company Ltd., Australia's largest industrial and natural resources company. BHP Diamonds is incorporated and based in Vancouver, B. C. It is the vehicle for BHP development, production and marketing of diamonds. Dia Met Minerals is a publicly listed minerals exploration and development company. Its shares trade on the Toronto and the American stock exchanges. It was founded in 1983 by Chuck Fipke, to finance the systematic exploration for diamonds in Canada. Fipke was the Canadian geologist whose work led to the discovery of diamonds in the Lac de Gras area of the Northwest Territories. Blusson was his prospecting partner. Since the initial discovery of diamonds in the fall of 1991 , the joint venture has discovered more than 100 kimberlites on its claim block. BHP Diamonds is the operator of the Ekati Diamond Mine.

The mine plan involves both mining kimberlite ore and processing it to recover rough industrial and gem quality diamonds. A large investment in infrastructure has been made to support these two operations.

Five separate kimberlite pipes will be mined. The capacity of the process plant, as well as the size, location and unique physical properties of each kimberlite pipe have been integrated into the design. The plan takes into account the quality and value of the diamonds to be recovered and the quantity the market will accept. It ensures people can work safely and that the environment is protected.

Three of the five kimberlite pipes- Panda, Koala and Fox are near the site of the main processing plant, Sable is 17 km to the north and Misery is 29 km to the southeast. All five will be developed using open pit mining followed by underground mining at Panda and Koala because of the higher value of their ore.

The mine plan is designed to provide a reliable supply of ore to the process plant. A stockpile of ore will be available if mining is interrupted

Mining rates for each pipe are determined by ore grade, diamond quality and the specific characteristics of the ore to be worked. Producing a consistent product, both in quality and quantity, is important for marketing the diamonds. Ore will be initially processed at the rate of 9,000 tonnes a day. Processing could double to 18,000 tonnes a day: this expansion is planned for year 10 of the project. A total of 78 million tonnes of ore and 508 million tonnes of waste rock are scheduled to be mined over the initial 17-year life of the project.

Five additional kimberlite pipes which have been bulk sampled may have economic potential. Several other known pipes warrant additional work. The mine plan is somewhat dynamic based on exploration results and has previously been altered to replace one pipe (Leslie) with a more economic one (Sable). Because of this, and continuing exploration, the joint venture partners anticipate that the mine will have a life longer than the 17 years forecast in BHP's feasibility study. The total life of the project is expected to be 20 to 25 years or more.

The Ekati Diamond Mine is expected to produce 3.5 to 4.5 million carats of rough industrial and gem quality diamonds a year: about four per cent of current global production by weight, and six per cent by value.

text from http://www.diamondcanada.com/Ekatimine.htm