BHP Ekati Diamond Production Shoots up 59 Percent
January 29, 04
Australian miner BHP Billiton said it produced 1.7 million carats of diamonds from its Ekati mine in Canada for the quarter ended December 31 – a 59 percent rise on the year earlier quarter and 10 percent higher than the previous quarter.
The increase reflected the processing of a pocket of high-grade material from the Koala pit which was completed in December along with ongoing benefits accruing from a program to reduce bottlenecks at the processing plant, BHP said in a report on the last quarter released on Thursday.
The firm also reported the discovery of a number of significant kimberlites on its 100 percent-owned site near Repulse Bay, Nunavut in Canada. Recent drilling has uncovered nine kimberlites and microdiamond results indicate a weak to moderate presence of diamonds.
Follow-up core drilling was carried out on one of the kimberlite pipes with around 9.1 tons of kimberlite processed resulting in the recovery of 70 diamonds with a total weight of 2.36 carats.
Additional bulk sampling is planned for the pipe and on several nearby pipes in the spring. Testing and evaluation of other targets on the property will continue.
BHP said that since results are at a preliminary stage, the economic significance is not yet clear.
The company said its minerals exploration group spent $24 million on operations in the last quarter.