Processed kimberlite-water interactions in diamond mine waste, Ekati Diamond Mine, Northwest Territories, Canada

The Ekati Diamond Mine is located approximately 300 km northeast of Yellowknife in the Canadian Arctic. Processed kimberlite ore is stored in a modified lake basin that has been isolated from the local drainage system by an ice-core dam.;The goals of this project are to chemically and mineralogically define the components of the mineral-water system that exists within the processed kimberlite containment facility, and to use major element water chemistry to determine the minerals and processes controlling the water chemistry observed. Both solid and water samples were collected from the processed kimberlite containment facility, from 2000 to 2002, in order to define and characterize the chemical and physical components of the system. Reaction path and inverse computer modeling, together with water and mineral data, have been used to deduce the minerals and processes most important in controlling water chemistry and to predict how these processes will affect the evolution of the system. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).