Argyle diamond mine at the Ekati mine, both in Canada. However, Argyle has two to four times the concentration of diamonds (ore grade) of these mines. This makes extraction economically feasible, as mine costs are mostly related to the amount of ore processed, not the amount of diamond extracted. In 2005, Rio Tinto was given the go-ahead to a future expansion project, moving it from an open pit to an underground mine. This plan was postponed; in September 2010 Rio Tinto announced fresh plans to develop an underground mine beneath the existing pit, increasing annual production to 9 million tonnes of ore. The
Jwaneng diamond mine 2,100 people. The mine also owns and operates a local hospital and Jwaneng Airport. The mine maintains an ISO 14001 certificate for environmental compliance, being the first mine in Botswana to achieve this certification in 2000. Jwaneng is known for its excellent safety record, winning multiple national and international safety awards. The Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) instrument on NASA’s Landsat 7 satellite acquired this image of the Jwaneng Diamond Mine on May 17, 2001. The arid, flat landscape that fills most of this image appears in varying shades of brown, crisscrossed by pale beige roads. The Jwaneng Diamond Mine