SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A group of family members got a tour last weekend of the Diavik diamond mine, located 375 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife.

It was a chance for more than 170 people to get better acquainted with the facility where their husbands and wives, sons and daughters and even grandchildren earn a living.

Pauline Baisley and her boyfriend Norm Mendza during Diavik Family Day, July 26. - photo courtesy of Pauline Baisley

The tour group began its journey on Saturday morning, arriving at the Diavik airport facility at around 9 a.m.

The group spent about six hours at the site.

"I was impressed by the mine," said Ron Burke, whose wife works at the facility.

"I thought the tours we went on were very informative and it was very interesting to learn about it all."

Three walking tours allowed guests to learn about the site accommodations, maintenance shops, processing and power plants and firefighting capabilities.

Tom Hoefer, spokesperson for Rio Tinto, the company that owns the mine, said they use a rotational work force that numbers around 800 employees.

"Our main camp would have around 400 beds in it," he said.

The facility also employs around 1,000 tradespeople working on construction of the next phase of the mining operations - the underground portion of the project.

Pauline Baisley has two relatives who work at the Diavik mine - her longtime boyfriend and her daughter.

"The staff was great, everyone was very friendly," she said.

Baisley said the guests at the mine were made to wear helmets and special safety gear.

"It was kind of strict, but that's just for our protection. It was a fantastic time," she said.

The group got to see some geology samples and there were even some rough diamonds on display.

The group was shown the entrance to the underground tunnels but they weren't allowed to go underground or to enter the enormous pit mine for safety reasons, Baisley said.

"I was amazed how deep the pit was and the size of the equipment," said Baisley.

Kimberley Theil said only one family member was allowed on the tour. Her mother has worked at the facility for only a couple of months.

"But I got to spend the day with my mom, that really surprised me because she was working and I thought I'd have to spend the whole time by myself," she said.

Theil said the facility was larger than she expected and she thought the accommodations for employees looked very comfortable.

Hoefer said about half the operation's workforce is contracted to other companies.

"I guess that's one of the things that we do differently, a majority are aboriginal companies," he said.

"We set it up that way so that we could build some capacity in aboriginal businesses."

Hoefer said eventually the operation will tap into four deposits to extract the diamonds.

He said the month of July was the official fifth anniversary of the opening of the Diavik mine, located on an island around 20 square kilometres in size.