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Canada

Ekati Mine

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Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit & Underground
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Diamond
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
  • Sub-level Retreat
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SnapshotThe Ekati Diamond Mine is Canada’s first surface and underground diamond mine.

As at the beginning of 2023, mining is taking place at two locations:
- Mining from the Sable open pit, which is reaching the end of its operational period and will be in production until late 2024.
- Mining from the Misery Underground mine, which will be depleted during 2025.

The Point Lake open pit project: final Point Lake permits received with mining scheduled to start in Q1 2024. First ore expected in Q3 2024.

Underwater remote mining (URM) technology is being developed at Ekati to recover diamonds from the bottom of previously mined pits that will be filled with water. URM involves extracting kimberlite from flooded open pits with an underwater continuous mining crawler.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Burgundy Diamond Mines Ltd. 100 % Indirect
Arctic Canadian Diamond Company Ltd. owns 100% of Ekati Diamond Mine.

On 1 July 2023, Burgundy Diamond Mines Limited completed the acquisition of Arctic Canadian Diamond Company Ltd.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • Kimberlite

Summary:

The Ekati kimberlite pipes are part of the Lac de Gras kimberlite field which is in the central Slave craton. The kimberlites intrude both granitoids and metasediments. They define several linear trends and are typically associated with dykes and lineaments. There is no dominant or unique structural association of the kimberlites.

Fine-grained sediments have been preserved as xenoliths and disaggregated material in kimberlite which indicates that some sedimentary cover was present at the time of the kimberlite emplacement. None of this sedimentary cover has been preserved outside of the kimberlites. The Ekati kimberlites range in age from 45 Ma to 75 Ma. They are mostly small pipe-like bodies (surface areas are mostly <3 ha but can extend to 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.

Pipe infill has been broadly classified into six rock types:
- Coherent kimberlite (CK).
- Tuffisitic kimberlite.
- Primary volcaniclastic kimberlite (PVK).
- Olivine-rich volcaniclastic kimberlite (VK).
- Mud-rich, resedimented volcaniclastic kimberlite (RVK).
- Kimberlitic sediment.

With few exceptions, the kimberlites are made up almost exclusively of volcaniclastic VK, including very fine grained to medium-grained kimberlitic sediments, RVK and PVK. RVK represents pyroclastic material that has been transported (e.g. by gravitational slumping and flow processes) from its original location (likely on the crater rim) into the open pipe and has undergone varying degrees of reworking with the incorporation of surficial material (mudstone and plant material). In rare cases (e.g. Leslie), pipes are dominated by or include significant proportions of CK.

While occasional peripheral kimberlite dykes are present, geological investigations undertaken to date do not provide any evidence for the presence of complex root zones or markedly flared crater zones. Kimberlites at Ekati typically contain fragments of wood that was incorporated into the pipe during deposition. The wood fragments identified are related to the redwood Sequoia and Metasequoia genera and are found relatively fresh and unmineralised. Fragments up to 1 m in size were common in several Ekati open pits, but the size and abundance decrease with depth.

Depending on the lithological unit, mud can make up a reasonable percentage of a given kimberlite unit. These xenoclasts range in size from millimetres to centimetres and are usually uniformly fine-grained, dark grey to black in colour, and can have portions made up of kimberlitic minerals such as olivine and serpentine but with the majority consisting of smectite, quartz and pyrite. Economic mineralisation is mostly limited to olivine-rich resedimented volcaniclastic and primary volcaniclastic types. Approximately 10% of the 177 known kimberlites in the Ekati project are of economic interest or have exploration potential. 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.

The Ekati kimberlites are primarily steep-sided volcanic pipes that are mostly filled with volcaniclastic material interpreted to be resedimented and lesser primary volcaniclastic (pyroclastic) kimberlite (Nowicki et al., 2004). While narrow coherent kimberlite dykes are present, these are not volumetrically significant. These mostly appear to predate kimberlite volcanism and are commonly transected by the volcanic pipes. Coherent kimberlite is present in some pipes either as late-stage intrusive material emplaced into volcaniclastic kimberlite (e.g. Koala, or as large pipe-filling bodies (e.g. Leslie; Grizzly).

At Ekati, the extent of mantle sampling, the degree of dilution by wall-rock and surface sediments and volcanic sorting processes are considered to be the main factors controlling variation in total diamond grade. The diamond size distribution characteristics are inherited from the original population of diamonds sampled from the mantle but can be affected by a number of secondary processes, including resorption and sorting during eruption and deposition of volcaniclastic kimberlite deposits. Diamond breakage due to geological processes are not expected to be significant enough to notice on the overall size distribution. In general, the diamonds broken by in-pipe geological processes are mostly low-quality stones (especially fibrous, boart or cheap gem categories).

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Production

CommodityUnits2024202320222021201720162015
Diamond k carats  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe5,2083,7323,158
All production numbers are expressed as mineral. ^ Guidance / Forecast.

Operational metrics

Metrics2024202320222021202020192018201720162015
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe4,102,545 t5,036 kt4,649 kt
Total tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Tonnes processed  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe4,102,545 t3.6 Mt2,940 kt3,618 kt4,131 kt
Daily processing rate  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Daily processing capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe10,800 t
Waste  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe19,507,195 wmt29,023,894 wmt22,427 kt21,586 kt
^ Guidance / Forecast.

Production Costs

CommodityUnits20222017
Cash costs Diamond USD 38.8 / carat  
Total cash costs (sold) Diamond USD  ....  Subscribe

Operating Costs

Currency2022202120172016
OP mining costs ($/t mined) USD 5.19  5.48  
UG mining costs ($/t mined) USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Processing costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Total operating costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Financials

Units202220212017
Sustaining costs M USD 36  
Capital expenditures M USD 241  
Revenue M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Operating Income M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe -97  
Pre-tax Income M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
After-tax Income M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
EBITDA M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 64.9  
Operating Cash Flow M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 30, 2024
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....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 30, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 30, 2024

EmployeesContractorsTotal WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2023
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2022
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2021
...... Subscription required 2020
...... Subscription required 2019
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...... Subscription required 2017

Aerial view:

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