Canada's Diamond Mines

In the last 10 years Canada has become the world's third largest producer of diamonds by value (she was followed Botswana and Russia in 2006).  Production is underway, or imminent, at five mines:

Canadian production began in 1998.  The figure below shows actual production through 2006 and a Natural Resources Canada forecast for the years 2007-2012.

 

Diamonds were first discovered at the site of the Ekati mine in 1991; production began here in 1998. The figure above shows Ekati production peaking in 2004 at almost C$1.5 billion and falling off thereafter.  The Ekati was the site of a tailings spill this spring (Tailings spill on tundra at Ekati diamond mine, Herb Mathisen , Northern News Service, June 4, 2008).  The material wasn't toxic, but still may pose a threat to fish and fish habitat.  Investigations into the cause and impact are ongoing.

The nearby Diavik mine began production in 2003.  The Diavik exploits diamond "pipes" located under a shallow lake.  To date its been developed by building dikes around the pipes, pumping the water out, and conducting open pit mining.  Underground mining is in the future.   The Edmonton Journal recently reported on developments at the site: Mine expects to extract more diamonds soon(June 10, 2008).  Here's the Diavik project in summer and winter:

 

The Ekati and Diavik projects are located close together; Canada's third diamond mine, the Jericho, is not far away.  However, while the first two are located in the Northwest Territory, the Jericho is located across the border in Nunavut.  The Jericho entered production in 2006.

The underground Snap Lake mine, De Beers' first project outside of South Africa, began producing in August 2007.  De Beers has another mine, the Victorin Ontario, which should begin to produce later in 2008.  The government of Ontario has just chosen the firm Diamonds International Canada (Dican) to appraise the value of the Victor diamonds: Ontario appoints valuer for gems from De Beers mine(Liezel Hill, May 26, 2008).

All of these projects are in remote sites and depend on winter ice roads and air transport for access. The first season of the Discovery Channel show Ice Road Truckersincluded episodes of truckers making diamond mine deliveries. In 2007, owners of the Ekati and Diavik mines offered, together with owners of other mining operations funding to move along planning for a proposed deep water port at Bathurst Inlet.

Meanwhile, exploration continues (Louis Perron, Natural Resources Canada, "Diamonds", Canadian Minerals Yearbook 2006; http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/mms/cmy/content/2006/26.pdf):

Across Canada, diamond exploration involving 82 companies acting as project managers was under way in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador, with a preliminary estimate of expenditures reaching $303 million in 2006. Projects at an advanced stage of exploration are located in the N.W.T., Saskatchewan, and Quebec.

Sources: Map showing the location of mines: Geology News, Canadian Diamonds - Mines and Exploration, December 2, 2006; http://geology.com/news/2006/12/canadian-diamonds-mines-and-exploration.html.  Figure showing past and forecast production trends: Louis Perron, Natural Resources Canada, "Diamonds", Canadian Minerals Yearbook 2006; http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/mms/cmy/content/2006/26.pdf.  The pictures of the Diavik mine are from the post The Eight Deepest Holes in the World (April 4, 2008) on the blog "Reformers, Puritans and a Geek,"

Comments

[Diamonds]

Thanks for this informative article.

[Victor]

hey, someday i'll probably go there! I grew up right beside Mirny diamond Pipe in Russia. Now studying in Alberta it wouldn't be that hard to check this one out too...

[Phil Golden]

This is a great post. It's great that there are these new mines. unfortunately, they are also controlled by De Beers. the industry is really held way too much in the grip of the whims of the De Beers group.