Ekati Diamond Mine and Stewart Blusson who had been prospecting in the region for almost ten years, having found kimberlite indicator minerals as early as 1985. The Point Lake kimberlite was determined to be uneconomic, but its discovery precipitated one of largest staking rushes in mining history, covering most of the area between Yellowknife and the Arctic coast. There are 156 known kimberlite pipes within the Ekati block of claims, including the Point Lake pipe. Ekati officially began operations on October 14, 1998, and was operated by BHP Billiton Canada Inc., a part of the BHP Billiton Group, the world's largest diversified resources
Luarica diamond mine of ore at an ore grade of per 100 cubic meters (43.2 mg/m³). There is a waste rock overburden of about 9.5 million cubic meters. Mining operations were suspended in May 2009 due to a decline in diamond demand caused by the late-2000s financial crisis. Trans Hex announced in August 2011 that it planned to withdraw from its two Angola joint-ventures with Endiama—Luarica and Fucauma—after failing to reach an agreement with the government of Angola (which owns the other major partner, Endiama). Endiama stated that it planned to restart operations alone. Luarica diamond mine The Luarica diamond mine is a