Burgundy Secures Extra $44m Loan from Government
March 11, 26
(IDEX Online) - Burgundy Diamond Mines has secured an additional lifesaving loan from the Canadian government to support continued operations at its Ekati mine.
The company was facing imminent bankruptcy and closure of the deposit last December, when it agreed a loan of CAD 115m (USD 83.5m) through Canada's Large Enterprise Tariff Loan (LETL) facility, repayable over seven years.
On Monday (9 March) it announced that it had secured an expansion of up to CAD 60m (USD 44.2m) to the existing loan.
"I would like to thank CEEFC (the Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding Corporation, which manages LETL) and the Government of Canada for their continued support of the northern diamond mining industry, which is a crucial employer and contributor to the economy of the Northwest Territories," said Burgundy's CEO Jeremy King.
"This additional funding will help Burgundy and Ekati continue operations and navigate the current highly challenging environment for natural diamond markets."
Last November, Burgundy said production had halved during Q3 2025 after it halted some of its operations and laid off 300 workers as a result of "sub-economic prices".
Burgundy, based in Perth, Western Australia, operates the mine through its wholly-owned subsidiary Arctic Canadian Diamond Company Ltd.
Burgundy completed its acquisition of Ekati in July 2023. The mine, which opened in 1998, was originally controlled by Dominion Diamond Mines (formerly Harry Winston Diamond Corporation).
Pic shows Ekati mine.