Burgundy Diamond Mines Limited is an end-to-end global diamond company that delivers gem-quality diamonds from its cornerstone asset Ekati Diamond Mine through rough sales to its polished and cut diamond sales office in Perth, Australia. Burgundy is publicly traded on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX:BDM) and is the parent company of Arctic Canadian Diamond Company Limited. The company sources its gem-quality diamonds from the Ekati Diamond Mine, located in the Northwest Territories, Canada. The company has a corporate office in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, a rough diamond sales office in Antwerp, Belgium, and a cut and polishing facility in Perth, Australia.
The Ekati Diamond Mine, often simply called Ekati, is Canada's first surface and underground diamond mine and is owned by Burgundy Diamond Mines. It is located 310 km (190 mi) north-east of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and about 200 km (120 mi) south of the Arctic Circle, near Lac de Gras. Until 2014, Ekati was a joint venture between Dominion Diamond Mines (80%), Chuck Fipke, and Stewart Blusson, the two geologists who discovered kimberlite pipes north of Lac de Gras. Fipke and Blusson each held 10% stake in the mine, until Fipke sold his share to Dominion. In 2021, Arctic Canadian Diamond Company Ltd. acquired the Ekati Diamond Mine with associated assets and liabilities from Dominion Diamond Mines. In July 2023, Burgundy Diamond Mines purchased full control of Arctic Canadian Diamond Company.
Unbridled was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1990 Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic.
Lac de Gras is a lake approximately 300 kilometres (190 mi) north east of Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Lac de Gras was the centre of the diamond rush of the 1990s. There are two working, and one closed, diamond mines in the area, Diavik Diamond Mine, Ekati Diamond Mine, and the care and maintenance Snap Lake Diamond Mine. It was called Ekati by aboriginal peoples.
Lemons Forever is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the Grade 1 132nd Kentucky Oaks horse race on May 5, 2006. Her win was the biggest upset in the history of the Oaks.
A diamond rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area where diamonds were newly discovered. Major diamond rushes took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in South Africa and South-West Africa.
Canadian diamonds are diamonds which have been mined in any one of the provinces and territories of Canada. Diamond-rich areas were not commercially extracted in Canada until the early 1990s. For the first 60 years of the 20th century, diamonds originated from kimberlite pipes and alluvial deposits in places such as Africa and some from South America. Later, diamond discoveries were made in the Soviet Union. Since the 1990s, major diamond discoveries were made and mining operations began.
Stewart Lynn "Stu" Blusson, is a Canadian businessman, geologist, investor, philanthropist, and prospector. He co-discovered the billion-dollar Ekati Diamond Mine, 300 kilometres from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. He serves as President of Archon Minerals Ltd. In 2002, Blusson donated key start-up funds necessary for Quest University Canada in Squamish, British Columbia. In 2006, Blusson donated $10 million for the Archon X PRIZE to develop a quick and inexpensive way to sequence the human genome. Blusson had a net worth of $660 million CDN in 2006.
Unbridled's Song was an American thoroughbred racehorse who won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Florida Derby and Wood Memorial. He was the favorite for the 1996 Kentucky Derby but suffered a cracked hoof in the weeks before the race and finished fifth. He finished his racing career with five wins from twelve starts and earnings of $1.3 million. He subsequently became a highly successful sire, with major winners including Breeders' Cup champions Arrogate, Forever Unbridled, Midshipman and Liam's Map. He also sired the filly Eight Belles who came second in the Kentucky Derby. He was posthumously the leading sire in North America of 2017.
The Breeders' Cup Challenge is a series of Thoroughbred horse races in which the winner earns an automatic spot in a specified Breeders' Cup race. The challenge races change somewhat each year. The Challenge series began in 2007 with 24 "Win and You're In" races from 2 countries. By 2014, the series had grown to 71 races across 13 countries. During that period, 24 winners of Breeders' Cup races had qualified via the challenge series.
Tale of Ekati is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse.
Not Bourbon is a Canadian Thoroughbred race horse. He is owned and bred by Charles E. Fipke and ridden by Jono Jones. At age two, Not Bourbon set a new Woodbine track record in winning the Bull Page Stakes. Racing at age three, he won the Queenston Stakes then upset heavily favored Harlem Rocker in the Plate Trial Stakes.
Hugo T. Dummett (1940–2002) was a South African mineral-exploration geologist who is best known for his role in the discovery of the Ekati Diamond Mine in the Barren Lands of Canada's Northwest Territories. Dummett has been described as "the brains, the ideas and the energy" behind the discovery of Ekati, which led to the creation of a new Canadian diamond-mining industry.
Perfect Shirl is a Thoroughbred racemare who won the 2011 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf in a 27-1 upset. She was foaled in the United States but her connections were Canadian.
The 2017 Breeders' Cup World Championships was the 34th edition of the premier event of the North American thoroughbred horse racing year. The 13 races, all of which were Grade I, took place on November 3 and 4 at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California and were telecast by NBC and NBC Sports. The Breeders' Cup is generally regarded as the end of the North America racing season, although a few Grade I events take place in later November and December.
The 2017 Breeders' Cup Challenge series provided winners of the designated races an automatic "Win and You're In" Berth in the 2017 Breeders' Cup. Races were chosen by the Breeders' Cup organization and included key prep races in the various Breeders' Cup divisions from around the world.
Forever Unbridled is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse who was named the Champion Older Mare of 2017 after winning the Fleur de Lis Handicap, Personal Ensign Stakes and Breeders' Cup Distaff. She also won two Group I stakes races in 2016 before finishing third in that year's Distaff.
Seeking the Soul is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse owned by Canadian geologist Charles Fipke whose most important win came in the 2017 Grade 1 Clark Handicap.
