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
Damtshaa diamond mine Damtshaa diamond mine The Damtshaa diamond mine is a diamond mine located in Botswana about west of the city of Francistown. Damtshaa, meaning "water for a tortoise", is owned by Debswana, a partnership between the De Beers company and the government of Botswana. It is the newest of four mines operated by the company, officially opening on October 25, 2003. Damtshaa is of open pit construction, located on top of four distinct kimberlite pipes of varying ore grade. The mine is forecast to produce about 5 million carats (1,000 kg) of diamond from 39 million tons of ore over the