The Ekati diamond mine’s owners say a major part of the mine is likely to remain active “much longer than previously expected.”
Burgundy Diamond Mines said new drilling results from Ekati’s Misery pipe – a former open pit that is now being mined underground – found “a larger ore body at depth” than was previously recognized.
Extending operations at Misery will prolong Ekati’s life and provides some good news for the broader Northwest Territories economy, which is bracing for the impact of the neighbouring Diavik mine’s closure in 2026.
Ekati’s Misery operation was expected to shut down in the same year, but Burgundy now thinks that plan will change.
“The Misery pipe, which is a very high-value ore source requiring almost zero development capital, is very likely to stay in production well past the original 2026 date,” Burgundy chief executive officer Kim Truter was quoted as saying in a press release earlier this week.
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The company added that it believes “production at Misery will continue much longer than previously expected” and expects to formalize that in the coming months. A new, extended mine plan is scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2025.
This week’s statement is the latest in a series of hints Burgundy has made about finding ways to keep both Misery and the entire Ekati mine in operation for longer than had previously been planned.
The Australian company, which bought Ekati last summer, said at the start of 2024 that it believed the mine’s operating life can be pushed close to 2040, rather than earlier estimates that were closer to 2030.
Meanwhile, Burgundy said this week it would change its approach to the proposed Sable underground project as a result of the Misery update and other exploration work taking place at Ekati.
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Sable is another former open pit at the mine that Burgundy has earmarked for underground operations.
The company said it would “resequence the Sable underground project and associated development capital by at least a year, due to a projected surplus of ore availability.”
Previously, Ekati managers had been racing to begin mining at Sable by 2026 to compensate for Misery’s projected closure that year.
