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
Victor Diamond Mine crater facies and hypabyssal facies, and is considered to have a highly variable diamond grade. It is an open-pit mine; the equipment there is 100 tonne trucks, large front-end loaders, bulldozers and other necessary support equipment used in the mining operation. The annual production rate is 2.7 million tonnes a year, which comes to about 600,000 carats a year in diamond grade. There is year-round access via air travel and only seasonal access over land depending on whether the weather permits travel. On the property are warehouses for storage, a processing plant, workshops, offices, fuel storage facilities, pit-dewatering machinery and