Diamond Rush

Not since the days of the Yukon Gold Rush of the late 19th century has Canada seen such excitement! There is much attention being given to the booming diamond mining industry. Diamond mining has become the Northwest Territories largest trade. The mining of rough diamonds and their processing employs many people and brings a great deal of economic growth to the area.

Fifty years ago, the vast undeveloped area near the Arctic Circle was not thought to have much potential to support business. There were mining operations for uranium as early as the 1930s and high-grade silver ore was mined from the 1960s. Gold was mined in the 1980's and Echo Bay Mines, Ltd. quickly became Canada's top gold mine. To service this large operation, the Lupin Winter Road was constructed in 1982. Many people still call this winter road by its original name, but today it is also known as the Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road.

It was the discovery of diamonds in 1991, however, that rapidly began to transform this remote area of northern Canada. The first diamond discovery occurred at Point Lake near Lac de Gras northeast of Yellowknife. A short time later the first diamond mine, Ekati, opened in 1998. The Diavik mine opened next in 2003 and Canada's third mine, Jericho, opened in 2006. Jericho opened in Nunavut, another Canadian territory located east of the Northwest Territories. In less than 20 years of mining operations, these first three mines pushed Canada into the ranks of the top diamond producing countries in the world. The top two producers are Botswana and Russia. Canada is now ranked third and has quickly gained a world-wide reputation for producing high-quality diamonds.