BHP Billiton announced the approval of the Misery open pit project at its Ekati Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories, Canada. This project consists of a pushback of the existing Misery open pit which was mined from 2001 to 2005.
The Ekati Mine production for the year ended June 30, 2010 was 3,812,500 carats. Production was lower than all comparative periods primarily due to lower average grade. During the year a higher proportion of ore was sourced from the Fox pit at Ekati as mining of the higher grade Panda underground was completed.