Celebrating 20 years of diamonds at BHP Billiton

The story of EKATI Diamond Mine began in 1981, when geologist Charles Fipke found diamond indicator minerals near Blackwater Lake on the east side of the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories. Through years of exploration with business partner Stewart Blusson, an extremely high concentration of indicator minerals was detected in 1989 in the Lac de Gras area, barely hinting at what truly lay beneath their feet.

Joined by BHP Billiton (BHP-N, BLT-L) in 1990, the exploration for diamonds had initially failed to yield the hoped-for results. Using the last of his funding, Fipke made a last-ditch effort to find the elusive gemstones on the shores of a tiny lake about 300 km northeast of Yellowknife.

On a bitterly cold day in April 1990, Fipke began frantically chipping through ice and rock in the hopes of collecting telltale samples. But it wasn’t until the following year that a drilling expedition in the same area yielded 81 tiny diamonds at Point Lake.

The discovery of diamonds was described by former Asset President, Jim Excell, as “one of those Cinderella stories where Fipke found the Point Lake pipe on the last day he could afford his helicopter and then later on, the very first drill-hole hit diamond-bearing kimberlite.”

The discovery was kept a secret for almost four months, but when news broke, it sparked the largest staking rush in North American history. Some 40 million acres of land were staked over an 18-month period from Yellowknife to the shores of the Arctic Ocean. Within eight years, the project went from a dream to Canada’s first surface and underground diamond mine.

In 1998, the NWT Diamonds Project was renamed EKATI Diamond Mine after the Tlicho (a local First Nations group) word meaning “fat lake.” EKATI officially began production on Oct. 14, 1998, after nearly $900 million was invested in construction. By 1999, EKATI had produced its first million carats.

2010 saw the discovery of the most significant gem-quality diamond to date, the breathtaking 78 carat EKATI Spirit, and a few months later, a production milestone of 50 million carats was reached.

EKATI has been recognized nationally and internationally for excellence in health, safety, environment and community. The project was awarded the John T. Ryan National Safety Trophy for the best safety performance in the Select Mine Category for 2007, was recognized by the Conference Board of Canada in 2003 for Excellence in Workplace Education, and has been frequently recognized as one of the Top 100 Employers in Canada.

BHP Billiton negotiated impact benefit agreements with the communities around the project, and was among the first mining companies in the world to do so.

The Mining Association of Canada continually recognizes EKATI’s pillar of Zero Harm to the environment through its Towards Sustainable Mining initiative and BHP Billiton was an early supporter of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme designed to certify the origin of rough diamonds from sources which are free of conflict funded by diamond production. BHP Billiton was also a founding member of the Responsible Jewellery Council, providing the World’s only verified business practice certification scheme for the gold and diamond jewelry supply chain.

“As we celebrate our accomplishments over the past twenty years, we look to making the future an amazing place for the people who call the North home,” says Paul Harvey, asset president at EKATI Diamond Mine. “We will continue to build a proud legacy in the communities where we live.”

— The author is team leader, communications, at BHP Billiton’s EKATI Diamond Mine.