"Diamond Mines of ..." a Northwest Territories Travel Page by crummey

"Lac De Gras" and "Ek'ati" are roughly synonymous. Ek'ati means "Caribou Fat Lake" in Dog Rib Indian language. While Lac De Gras is "Fat Lake" in French.

Lac De Gras is at approximately 64 degrees north; Very close to the Arctic Circle.

The winters are long and cold. The summers are short and cool. Mean monthly temperatures are -31 Celsius in January and +10 C in July. Rain and snowfall is sparse, with precipitation averaging only 266 millimeters; just over an inch. The nights are very long in winter and the northern lights are, of course, breath taking.

This entire area is tundra. Vegetation includes birch, northern Labrador tea, and blueberry and cranberry species.

Ek'ati is the name of a Diamond mine near Lac De Gras, NWT. There are other diamond mines and junior mining companies in the vicinity including: Diavik Diamond mine on East Island, Lac De Gras; The De Beers' diamond project at Misery, the Snap Lake diamond project and Ga Cha Kue diamond project, which are slightly farther to the south and Tahara at Carrot Lake, Nunavut. Most of the mines are approximately 300-500 kilometers northeast of Yellowknife by the "Ice Road".

Local people, based out of Wati (Dog Rib Indian) and Kugluktuk (Kitimeot Inuit) carry on traditional hunting of wolf, caribou, wolverine etc. One year, while working on exploration, I became familiar with a wolf pack. It shadowed our camp for a period. We would see the pack prowling the ice road. I used to get out of the warmth of our camp or the truck and try to pose with them in the background. Of course, I know that this was a very foolish thing to do. One day an Inuit hunter from Kugluktuk showed up at our camp on a skidoo. While chatting, he informed me that he had shot those wolves. This came as a shock to me and was a true lesson in arctic life.

There are no permanent residents at Ek'ati, Diavik or around Lac De Gras. The vast majority of people here work in the mines; the NWT Mining Act dictates for how long that they can stay. The mining camps are drug and alcohol free. There is a disproportionate male to female ratio.

If you are thinking about coming to the Lac De Gras region, access is by the "Ice Road" from late December to early April. For the rest of the year access is only by plane.