Ekati Diamond Mine to close down by mid-August 2026

Canada’s historic Ekati diamond mine is shutting down by mid-August 2026 after entering court-supervised receivership. Located 300 km northeast of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, the mine, which opened in 1998, succumbed to plummeting global diamond prices and competition from synthetic stones and inflation.

Ekati has made an extraordinary contribution to the territory for more than 25 years. Like a handful of other diamond mines worldwide, Ekati is in financial straits due to the drop in diamond prices and competition from lab-grown diamonds, which has been particularly detrimental to smaller natural diamonds.

As of July 13, Burgundy owes $175 million to the Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding Corporation (CEEFC), a government-owned entity that loans money to troubled businesses, and $79 million to various lenders. The sales process conducted in these CCAA proceedings did not yield any compliant bids, and the interim funding available to the Burgundy respondents has been fully exhausted. CEEFC has determined it will not fund the companies any further.

The Government of the Northwest Territories requires the urgent appointment of a receiver over the Burgundy respondents to conduct an orderly wind down of Ekati Mine operations, and to oversee environmental remediation and reclamation activities. The court appointed Pricewaterhouse Coopers as receiver. PwC will oversee the closure of the mine, which is expected to take about five weeks. The site will be turned over to the government to begin environmental remediation and reclamation work.