Finding diamond deposits is difficult and costly. Rather than look for the elusive and rare diamonds, geologists seek other clues.  Working from tent camps, geologists conduct several types of surveys. Using geochemical surveys, soil samples are taken and panned for indicator minerals like garnets found in more abundance in kimberlite pipes. A trail of indicator minerals can lead to potential pipes.  In addition, geophysical surveys are used to differentiate hidden kimberlite pipes from surrounding host rock.  Computer-generated geophysical data is mapped as pictured above.

If a potential kimberlite target is identified, portable diamond drills are used to remove core samples to determine if the target is in fact kimberlite. Further drilling helps define pipe size and shape, and provides additional rock for diamond testing. Not all kimberlite pipes have diamonds.  In fact, of the worlds estimated 5,000 kimberlites only 23 contain enough diamonds to warrant the expense of operating a mining operation.

When diamonds are found in sufficient quantities to suggest an ore body, a small mining operation is conducted to remove a larger, several thousand tonne bulk sample. This sample is processed to remove the diamonds, which are then evaluated for quantity, quality, and size.

Lac de Gras

Aboriginal people named the Lake Ekati for quartz veins found in local bedrock outcrops resembling caribou fat.  Lac de Gras is 60 kilometers long and averages 16 kilometers wide with a shoreline length of 740 kilometers.  The lake averages 12 meters in depth and has a maximum depth of 56 meters.  The water temperature ranges from 0°C to 18°C in the summer.  Aquatic productivity is low due to low nutrients, low light during the winter, eight months of ice and low water temperatures.  The water quality resembles distilled water.  The lake is habitated by lake trout, cisco, whitefish, artic grayling, burbot, longnose sucker and slimy sculpin.  The lake has a drainage area of about 4,000 square kilometers and together with Lac du Sauvage located to the Northeast form the headwaters of the Coppermine River which flows 520 kilometers from Western Lac de Gras to the Artic Ocean.