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Regulatory approval process for BHP’s Ekati Diamond Mine, Northwest Territories, Canada
Published in John E. Udd, A.J. Keen, Mining in the Arctic, 2020
J. Witteman, L. M. Davis, C. Hanks
The Ekati Diamond Mine is located approximately 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. The mine is within the Lac de Gras watershed at the headwaters of the Coppermine River drainage basin. Located on the Arctic tundra area known as the barren lands, the terrain is locally characterized by boulder fields, and numerous lakes with interconnecting streams. There are more than 8000 lakes within the 3200 km claim block associated with the Ekati Diamond Mine. It is an area of continuous permafrost with a shallow active layer, which thaws during the brief summer.
A paleolimnological approach for interpreting aquatic effects monitoring at the Diavik Diamond Mine (Lac de Gras, Northwest Territories, Canada)
Published in Lake and Reservoir Management, 2020
Jennifer B. Korosi, Joshua R. Thienpont, David C. Eickmeyer, Linda E. Kimpe, Jules M. Blais
Diamond-bearing kimberlite pipes were first discovered in northern Canada in 1991, in a vast and remote tundra landscape known colloquially as the Barren Lands (Northwest Territories). The Ekati Diamond Mine opened in 1998 under BHP Billiton Canada, Inc., as the first commercial diamond mine in Canada, and is one of 3 diamond mines operating in the Barren Lands today. To obtain a Water License to operate in the Northwest Territories (a jurisdiction with its own government within Canada), the mines are required to implement an Aquatic Effects Monitoring Program (AEMP) to determine the short- and long-term impacts of mining activities on surface water quality, intended to guide the implementation of mitigation strategies (MVLB/GNWT 2019). AEMPs include the routine monitoring of water and sediment chemistry, plankton, benthos, and fish over the duration of the project, in impacted surface waters and reference sites. AEMPs also typically include 1–2 years of baseline monitoring conducted prior to the onset of operations.