Close to the Lac de Gras, located in the Canadian Northwest Territories and just a hop south of the Arctic Circle lies the Ekati Diamond Mine. This is the first surface and underground mine in Canada and has produced 45 million carats in diamonds since its 13-year existence. Diamonds from the Ekati mines are on the market under the trade name Aurias and sold to manufacturers and traders through BHP Billiton’s sales office in Antwerp. A few days ago a diamond so unusual was presented to the public with the beautiful name “Ekati Spirit Diamond”.
BHP Billiton started a contest, welcoming people from the territory to name the diamond. Terry Marshall, employee from a truck stop as a warehouse technician, won with his suggestion to name the diamond “Ekati Spirit” This name stands for the history and the people of the North.
The “Ekati Spirit Diamond” is a 78 carat rough diamond discovered just a few months ago and is so attention catching because of its high clarity. The diamond is internally flawless, no inclusions. It is considered to be the very best gem-quality found in this particular mine so far. The “Ekati Spirit” is not the largest find within these mines, but it is of highest superiority. To find a stone this size and quality is simply unheard of, hence all the excitement surrounding it.
The largest diamond ever found in the Ekati mines belonging to BHP Billiton was about two years ago. That diamond was a 10.22 carat gem, with a price tag of $1.2 million. BHP Billiton employs around 800 people and has on average additional 700 contractors on site 24/7. They generate their own electric powered by company owned and operated diesel stations. The annual sales from the Ekati mine represents around 3% of the world’s current rough diamond supply by the weight and 5% of the world’s supply by the diamond value.
BHP Billiton auctioned off this stunning rough diamond on St. Valentine’s Day to a selected group of 70 potential buyers. BHP Billiton used a hybrid auction system, which combines two auction platforms. The first being the Uniform Price Auction for stones up to 7 carats in size and the second is the Ascending Clock Auction for larger and special stones. The auction was held in Antwerp, Belgium. It is not 100% certain how much this diamond truly sold for since the information on the web varies from $2.8 million to $6.1 million. Regardless of that, everyone seems to agree that whatever the price, it still sets a new record as to being the most expensive rough diamond from Canada.
The buyer of this magnificent “Ekati Spirit” is still not known. People are speculating the buyer could be either Laurence Graff or perhaps Lev Leviev. It is believed that this rough diamond will be converted into a spectacular piece of jewelry. This will take a while since diamond plotters will be planning for months what the best possible cut and design could be for this spectacular crystal.
March 15th, 2011 at 6:33 am
Nice!! Great Info. Great People. Great Blog. Thank you for all the great sharing that is being done here.
March 15th, 2011 at 2:34 pm
Thanks.
November 29th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
Thanks for helping out, good information. “Whoever obeys the gods, to him they particularly listen.” by Homer.
January 4th, 2012 at 8:10 am
it depends on how far you have to drive to get the beer. a 6-pack won’t do it for me i think a dozen is a better number