Calgary, Alberta – Burgundy Diamond Mines Limited (ASX:BDM) (Burgundy or the Company) is proud to announce that the Ekati Diamond Mine has reached a historic milestone of 100 million carats produced. As Ekati currently celebrates 26 years of production, this impressive achievement is a reminder of the quality of this long-life asset and everyone’s efforts, hard work, and dedication over the past two and a half decades.
Ekati has an impressive history as Canada’s first diamond mine and continues to rank in the top 10 producers world-wide, renowned for its high-quality, ethically sourced diamonds. Running a 24/7 365 days a year operation in a remote sub-Artic location, takes ingenuity, grit, and resilience, which is a testament to the strength of our people.
“As we reflect on this historic achievement, Ekati continues the legacy as one of the premier diamond assets in the world in a tier one location producing highly sought after sustainably and ethically produced diamonds for the global market.” said Kim Truter, CEO of Burgundy Diamond Mines.
“We are proud of the team we have in place and of everything we have achieved so far. Ekati still has 140 million carats remaining in Indicated Mineral Resources, one of the largest unmined diamond endowments in the world[1], which provides Burgundy shareholders an indication of Ekati’s remaining mine life potential. We are looking forward to reaching future major milestones under Burgundy’s leadership, and continuing to make strides in operational performance, cost reduction strategies, mine life extension work and innovative sales and marketing strategies.”
Since opening in 1997, Ekati mine has been an important economic contributor to Canada’s Northwest Territories, through job creation, resource generation, and community investment.
Burgundy purchased Ekati mine in July 2023 and has since remained committed to continuing this legacy by working collaboratively with northern communities, government, and Impact Benefit Agreement partners, and working to expand mine life potential opportunities identified for future growth. As we look to the future, we will continue to capitalise on the unique potential opportunities at Ekati, namely the Misery underground extension, Sable Underground, Point Lake open pit, Fox high value stockpiles, Fox underground and other undeveloped resources on the property.
[1] Indicated Mineral Resources as of December 31st, 2023. See Australian Stock Exchange Announcement dated May 2, 2024.
