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
Kelsey Lake Diamond Mine settled the lawsuit but in September 1997 Redaurum decided to liquidate its diamond properties to concentrate on exploration. The mine was operated sporadically until the operation was acquired by McKenzie Bay International Ltd. in 2000. McKenzie bought the mine management firm Diamond Co. from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, transferred all its assets to a subsidiary, Great Western Diamond Co., and invested $2 million in new equipment for the mine. In 2001, McKenzie tried to sell the mine to focus on mining vanadium after the price of that metal rose dramatically. However, due to a dispute with the landowner over royalty payments,