page_title: Northwest Territories
section_title: Mining
hierarchical_section_title: Northwest Territories / Economy / Mining
caption_attribution_description: English: Diavik, Canada September 21, 2016 The Diavik Diamond Mine gouges deep into the sub-arctic tundra of Canada's Northwest Territories. Since opening in 2003, over 100 million carats of rough diamond have been extracted from the mine.
context_page_description: The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately 1,144,000 km² and a 2016 census population of 41,786, it is the second-largest and the most populous of the three territories in Northern Canada. Its estimated population as of 2020 is 44,982. Yellowknife became the territorial capital in 1967, following recommendations by the Carrothers Commission.
  The Northwest Territories, a portion of the old North-Western Territory, entered the Canadian Confederation on July 15, 1870. Since then, the territory has been divided four times to create new provinces and territories or enlarge existing ones. Its current borders date from April 1, 1999, when the already-smaller territory was decreased again by the creation of a new territory of Nunavut to the east, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. While Nunavut is mostly Arctic tundra, the Northwest Territories has a slightly warmer climate and is both boreal forest and tundra, and its most northern regions form part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
context_section_description: The NWT's geological resources include gold, diamonds, natural gas and petroleum. British Petroleum (BP) is the only oil company currently producing oil in the Territory. NWT diamonds are promoted as an alternative to purchasing blood diamonds. Two of the biggest mineral resource companies in the world, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto mine many of their diamonds from the NWT. In 2010, NWT accounted for 28.5% of Rio Tinto's total diamond production (3.9 million carats, 17% more than in 2009, from the Diavik Diamond Mine) and 100% of BHP's (3.05 million carats from the EKATI mine).
   
  Eldorado Mine – 1933–1940, 1942–1960, 1976–1982 (radium, uranium, silver, copper)
  Con Mine – 1938–2003 (gold)
  Neger Mine – 1939–1952 (gold)
  Ptarmigan and Tom Mine – 1941–1942, 1986–1997 (gold)
  Thompson-Lundmark Mine – 1941–1943, 1947–1949 (gold)
  Giant Mine – 1948–2004 (gold)
  Discovery Mine – 1950–1969 (gold)
  Rayrock Mine – 1957–1959 (uranium)
  Camlaren Mine – 1962–1963, 1980–1981 (gold)
  Cantung Mine – 1962–1986, 2002–2003, 2005–2015 (tungsten)
  Echo Bay Mines Limited – 1964–1975 (silver and copper)
  Pine Point Mine – 1964–1988 (lead and zinc)
  Tundra Mine – 1964–1968 (gold)
  Terra Mine – 1969–1985 (silver and copper)
  Salmita Mine – 1983–1987 (gold)
  Colomac Mine – 1990–1992, 1994–1997 (gold)
  Ekati Diamond Mine – 1998–current (diamonds)
  Diavik Diamond Mine – 2003–current (diamonds)
  Snap Lake Diamond Mine – 2007–2015 (diamonds)
caption: Aerial view of the Diavik Diamond Mine in the North Slave Region
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