Lac de Gras Lac de Gras Lac de Gras is a lake approximately north east of Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Lac de Gras was the centre of the diamond rush of the 1990s. There are two working, and one closed, diamond mines in the area, Diavik Diamond Mine, Ekati Diamond Mine, and the care and maintenance Snap Lake Diamond Mine. It was called Ekati by aboriginal peoples. The lake is ultraoligotrophic but supports a slow-growing but stable population of some eight species of cold-water fishes, including round whitefish, cisco, and lake trout. Lake trout dominate the lake, both numerically and
Argyle diamond mine ore and acid washed, they are sorted and shipped to Perth for further sorting and sale. A significant quantity of diamonds are cut in India, where low costs of labour allow small diamonds to be cut for a profit; this is especially relevant to the Argyle mine, which on average produces smaller rough diamonds than other mines do. The diamonds produced at the Argyle diamond mine are of an average low quality. Only 5% of mined diamonds are of gem quality, compared to a worldwide average of 20% (Author Janine Roberts contends that the "near-gem" quality rating is subjective and