Diavik is still pre-stripping its open pit and constructing a system to pull ore from the ground at a steady rate.

"You don't want sporadic production," explained Tom Hoefer, manager of public affairs.

For this reason, Diavik won't swing into full production for another 18 months. It will, however, start delivering diamonds in February.

Last week, Diavik began feeding ore through its nearby processing plant. Diamonds are separated from kimberlite using a non-chemical process that works using gravity.

First, heavy minerals, including diamonds, are separated from the ore. The heavy mineral concentrate is then placed on a conveyor belt which leads into a light-free box where X-rays shine on the minerals.

Under X-ray light, the diamonds glow but the waste minerals don't, explained Hoefer.

An electric eye detects the glowing diamonds and an air jet blows the gems off the conveyor belt into a collecting container.

The first run put the equipment to the ultimate test, said Hoefer.

"When you start to feed the ore in, that tells you how the equipment is going to work," said Hoefer. "We've built it, now this is the test."

So far, everything is running smoothly, he said.

Hoefer said it's sometimes hard to believe the mine is finished.

"We've gone through such an evolution," said Hoefer. "It's amazing to look at the completed mine site."