Toronto: Canada’s Ekati diamond mine is set to cease operations after owner Burgundy Diamond Mines failed to secure a buyer for the asset during a court-supervised sale process.

According to documents filed with the Supreme Court of British Columbia, the sale process did not attract any compliant bids, leaving the company without the funding needed to continue operations.

Burgundy has been undergoing court-supervised restructuring since May and was granted an extension of creditor protection while seeking potential buyers. Despite approaching around 140 prospective investors, the process failed to generate any qualifying offers before the court-imposed deadline.

As a result, the Government of the Northwest Territories has requested the appointment of a receiver to oversee an orderly shutdown of the Ekati mine, along with environmental remediation and land reclamation efforts.

In its court filing, the government stated that an urgent receivership is necessary to manage the mine’s closure and ensure the site is properly restored in accordance with environmental obligations.

Court documents also revealed that Burgundy was expected to exhaust its remaining cash reserves by July 17 unless additional financing was secured. The company reportedly owes approximately C$175 million (US$124.9 million) to the Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding Corporation (CEEFC), along with a further C$79 million to other lenders.