Yellowknife (Jun 30/06) - An expansion project announced by NWT’s first diamond mine could extend Ekati’s life by several of years.

BHP Billiton, 80 per cent owner of the Ekati Diamond Mine approved plans for the Koala Underground Project which will cost $277 million, said Ekati spokesperson Deana Twissell.

“It’s anticipated that full production would begin by the mid calender year of 2009,”

With Koala now approved, the mine life at Ekati could potentially be extended to 2017, she said.

The project has potential to extract 9.8 million carats of diamonds over an eleven year production period, said Twissell.