Day: 147

Helicopter Ride Over Diamond Mines

Temperature: 5F

Location: DeBeer Diamond Exploration Camp

Latitude: 70deg 37’ 40’’ N

Longitude: 80deg 03’ 52” W

Distance Traveled: 0 Miles - Day Off

We are taking the day off here, at the DeBeers diamond exploration camp. It’s been a really great day, talking with people. Some of our team were able to go up on the helicopter and take a look at the site. Diamonds are found in a mineral called timberlite, and they have traced this all across northern Baffin Island, sort of tracing the way the glaciers flowed. And they have found some deposits of timberlite not far from here. So they are drilling in these deposits, hoping to find the main mother load. The camp is about 20 miles away from the drill site. They drill in 12 hour shifts, hoping to hit pay dirt. It is kind of neat exploration, kind of a detective game trying to find the diamond mine. And the people here have been most kind to us, have fed us really well, and have offered us the entire camp. They showed us a slide show of how the DeBeers operation works, very fascinating. I’m really happy we stopped here, it was a good break for some of us. We were able to talk with other people, and just put our feet up. And some of the guys watched a hockey tournament.

It is evening right now, about 8 p.m. We will be leaving in about two hours. We’ll be packing up the sled here. We are talking with the helicopter crew that just came in. So we are off again this evening. It is a little foggy, some low clouds have drifted in. It’s been a little cold today, not much of a meltdown. But spring is definitely in the air.