Ekati Quarterly Production Swings Upwards

After a slowdown in diamond production at the Ekati mine in the quarter ended September 30, diamond production nearly doubled in the last quarter, ended December 31. BHP Billiton, 80 percent owner of the mine, reported its share of production was 937,000 carats.

Total production during the last quarter totaled 1,171,250 carats, a 92 percent increase compared to the September 2006 quarter. Compared to the December 2005 quarter, production increased 53 percent.

“As Ekati (Canada) increases the diversity of its ore sources,” BHP said this morning (Thursday), “the mix of ore processed will change from time to time and impact the carats recovered. In the December 2006 quarter, processing of higher grade, with lower diamonds values, had a positive impact on production.”

Despite indicating lower values, the company did not release value figures for the production.

BHP’s new diamond project, Koala, which is also located in Canada, is reportedly on schedule and budget. The miner said procurement is well advanced and engineering is nearly complete. The mine is scheduled to be ready later this year.

BHP further said that during the quarter, exploration continued on diamond targets in Angola, Canada, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).