Diavik Diamond Mine This is the largest diamond ever found in North America. Diavik Diamond Mine The Diavik Diamond Mine is a diamond mine in the North Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, about northeast of Yellowknife. Diavik Diamond Mine is an industrial complex set in a remote, sub-Arctic landscape. It consists of four kimberlite pipes associated with the Lac de Gras kimberlite field and is located on an island in Lac de Gras and is informally called East Island. It is about south of the Arctic Circle. In the 2015 satellite image below, one can see the two main open pits,
Yellowknife came from gold mining, and later government; however, because of falling gold prices and increased operating costs, the final gold mine closed in 2004, marking a turning point for Yellowknife's economy. After a downturn in the 1990s during the closure of the gold mines and the downsizing of the government workforce in 1999, Yellowknife's economy has recovered, largely because of the diamond boom; the Ekati Diamond Mine, owned and operated by BHP Billiton (sold to Dominion Diamond Corporation in 2013), opened in 1998. A second mine, Diavik Diamond Mine, began production in 2003. Production from the two operating mines in