Bedrock at the Ekati Project is dominated by Archean granitoids, intruded by metagreywackes of the YK Supergroup and transected by Proterozoic mafic dykes. No younger cover sediments are preserved. Bedrock is overlain by Quaternary glacial deposits which are generally less than 5 m thick.

The 45 to 75 Ma kimberlites, part of the Lac de Gras kimberlite field, intrude both the granitoids and metasediments. The kimberlites are mostly small pipe-like bodies (surface area predominantly <3 ha but can reach as much as 20 ha) that typically extend to projected depths of 400–600 m below the current land surface. Kimberlite distribution is controlled by fault zones, fault intersections and dyke swarms.

The kimberlites are made up almost exclusively of volcaniclastic olivine-rich volcaniclastic kimberlite (VK), with lesser mud-rich, resedimented volcaniclastic kimberlite (RVK) and primary volcaniclastic kimberlite (PVK). In rare cases (e.g. Pigeon), pipes are dominated by or include significant proportions of magmatic kimberlite (MK). Economic mineralization is mostly limited to olivine-rich resedimented volcaniclastic and primary volcaniclastic types.

Diamond grades are highly variable. Estimated average grades for kimberlites that have been bulk sampled range from less than 0.05 cpt to more than 4 cpt.

Ore Reserves that are mined or will be mined using open pit methods include Sable and Point Lake. Sable open pit designs assumed dilution of 6% waste and mining recovery of 98% diluted material. The Point Lake open pit design assumes dilution of 2% waste and mining recovery of 98% diluted material.

Ore Reserves that are mined or will be mined using underground methods include Misery and Fox. The underground design for Misery is based on sublevel retreat with 25 m levels assuming an overall dilution of 12% waste and overall mining recovery of 94% of diluted material. Conceptual designs for Fox Underground are based on inclined cave mining method.

The Sable Open Pit is a 60,000 tonne per day (tpd) operation providing 10,500 tpd of kimberlite ore feed to the plant. The Misery Underground operation, which ramped up in 2021, utilizes a sublevel retreat mining method at a nominal mining rate of 3,000 tpd providing 2,750 tpd of ore to the process plant.

At the Ekati Diamond Mine, miners use two methods to remove the diamond-rich kimberlite ore from the ground: open pit mining and underground mining. In open pit mines, workers remove waste rock and earth to get to the kimberlite pipe using digging equipment and explosives. In underground mines, spiral-shaped tunnels are built to allow mining equipment to drill, blast, dig, and haul the ore from deeper parts of the kimberlite pipes.

The Ekati Diamond Mine plan involves bringing pits and un ........

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