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
Letlhakane diamond mine at a processing plant at its sister mine, Orapa diamond mine, about distant. The Letlhakane mine is also managed from the Orapa mine. In 2015, over 2.1 million tons per year of ore was mined, and over 2.3 million tons was treated, resulting in 583,000 carats of diamond. As of 2017, the Letlhakane Mine ceased open pit operations and completed a plant for the processing of tailings. This is expected to extend the life of the operations at this facility until 2043. Letlhakane diamond mine The Letlhakane diamond mine is a diamond mine located in Botswana about west of the