Ekati mine boosts diamond production

BHP Billiton, the majority owner of Canada's first diamond mine in the Northwest Territories, has reported a substantial increase in diamond production in the first half of this year.

The company, which owns 80 per cent of the Ekati mine, reported Tuesday morning that diamond production went up 26 per cent from January to June 2007, comparedwith the same period last year.

The Ekati mine, which opened in 1998, is located about 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife.

The company says that while the diamonds produced to date this year are of a lower grade than those mined in the past, the ore mined from the site has produced 26 per cent more carats overall.

Sales from Ekati, which produces about four million carats of rough diamonds a year, make up about four per cent of the global rough diamond supply by weight and six per cent by value, the company says.

Meanwhile, BHP Billiton also reported that development of a major underground expansion at the mine is on schedule to open at the end of this year. The development of the Koala pit project is expected to stay within its $200-million US budget, the company says.

The co-discoverers of the Ekati mine, Chuck Fipke and Stuart Blusson, own 20 per cent of the Ekati mine, while BHP owns the rest.