Ekati diamond mine is located 200 km south of the Arctic Circle, near Lac de Gras in the Northwest Territories of Canada, approximately 300 km northeast of Yellowknife. Ikat - the local word for "fat lake".Name of the place is credited with white quartz rock deposits throughout the area that are similar to the consistency of fat reindeer.
Ekati - both surface and underground diamond mine in Canada. It is a joint venture between BHP Billiton Diamonds (80%), as well as a geologist Charles Fipkom and Dr. Stuart Blassonom.
The first kimberlite pipe was found Chuck Fipkom and Stuart Blassonom in the region of Lac de Gras in 1985, after nearly ten years of research and studies. Kimberlite - soft igneous rock, located in a long, vertical volcanic pipes, which are sometimes diamonds. There are less than 10,000 kimberlite pipes in the world, only a few of which contain diamonds. At Ekati has 156 known kimberlite pipes, at least six of which contain diamonds. Pipes in Ikat 45 - 62 million years old, and most of them lies under shallow lakes formed by melting glaciers 8,000 - 10,000 years ago.
Lake Point, where he was discovered by the first kimberlite, was first recognized as hopeless, but its opening is possible to find one of the largest diamond deposits in the mining history. Deposits cover most of the area between Yellowknife and the Arctic coast. Ekati officially began work October 14, 1998 and run by BHP Billiton Canada Inc. The mine is estimated to be able to deliver diamonds for 25 years.
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