Discovering Diamonds: The Diavik

Mine
The story of the Diavik Mine, in the Northwest Territories of Canada, starts with a
history lesson. Fifty five million years ago, volcanic eruptions of kimberlite magma
thrust billion year old diamonds close to the planet's surface. Fast forward to the
1970s when intrepid explorers set out to discover diamonds in this remote region
known as the Barren Lands. Geologists first sought to find the kimberlite indicator
minerals like garnets. These they hoped would point to the source of the extinct
kimberlite volcanoes.
Once found, time, effort and investment would be required to determine if the
kimberlite rock contained enough diamond gems to mine. Success came in the
early 1990s, and, like any great discovery, word spread quickly. Prospectors flocked
to the area to establish claims. It was the biggest staking rush in North American
history. Eager prospectors would physically hammer a stake into the land to claim it,
not even knowing whether they would find diamonds beneath the ground.

A Sparkling Find
Grenville Thomas, founder of Aber Resources (now Harry Winston Diamond
Corporation), formed a partnership and staked what would become the Diavik
Diamond Mine at Lac de Gras.
In 1994, Thomas daughter, Eira, led a team of geologists to explore the area her
father had claimed. They made an incredible discovery: a core sample with a
diamond just shy of two carats. The find it is extremely rare to find such a large
diamond in a core sample hinted at what was to come. To protect her prize, Eira
Thomas slept with the gem under her pillow until she could show it to her father.
What her team unearthed is arguably considered one of the highest-grade diamond
pipe in the worldthe A154 South pipe at the Diavik Diamond Mine.

110 Million Carats

In January 2003, the Diavik Diamond Mine, a joint venture of Rio Tinto and Harry
Winston Diamond Corporation, began production of some of the highest prized gemquality diamonds in the world, offering a range of rough diamonds and white
diamonds of one carat or higher. To safely mine the three pipes, located under the
shallow waters of Lac de Gras, Diavik would unite several design, engineering and
construction technologies to construct dikes allowing access to the ore bodies.
Recently, the Diavik Diamond Mine, a Canadas top 100 Employer, completed
construction of its new underground mine ensuring local employment and business
benefits will continue beyond 2020. . The majority of the mines workforce live in

the Northwest Territories. The majority of business spending is with local firms. This
commitment ensures local communities benefit for the mine. Since its beginnings,
the mine has yielded millions of carats of natural gem diamonds every year and is
projected to produce approximately 110 million carats during its lifespan of 16 to 22
years. A key aspect of the mine is to ensure that the environment is protected. With
this in mind, to reduce its reliance on diesel fuel, the Diavik Diamond Mine
constructed of a wind farm. The Diavik Diamond Mine wind farm the worlds first
built at an off-grid mine. And it will be operating in one of the worlds harshest
climates where winter temperatures often drop to a bone chilling minus 40
degrees.