Sample diamonds amounting to 5.1 carats per tonne from Kennady Diamonds earned the rank of being the highest sample grades ever recorded in Canada. The 4,628 diamonds started in the 0.106-to-0.15-millimetre range and went up to 2.36-to-3.35-mm. Ninety-seven of the stones ranked above 0.85 mm and are eligible to be commercial, according to the Canadian Institute of Mining. The commercial size diamonds are transparent and either white/colourless of off-white, with 75 per cent of them lacking any major inclusions.
The three largest diamonds recovered were a 0.4-carat off-white, transparent, octahedral with inclusions; a 0.25-carat white/colourless, transparent, octahedral with inclusions; and a 0.22-carat white/colourless, transparent, aggregate with inclusions.
The samples were pulled out of the Northwest Territories last spring. Bordering Gahcho Kué, it is considered “the world’s largest and richest new diamond development project,” by partners De Beers and Mountain Province Diamonds.
