Geoscience A few hidden facts Yellowknife is literally built on gold, with the tunnels of both gold mines burrowing deep beneath the streets, a city where "the gold is paved with streets". Yellowknife is the centre for transportation, communication, recreation, commerce, tourism, health care, mining and government for the Northwest Territories. With the recent discovery of diamonds north of our city, Yellowknife faces a brilliant future as a home to diamond manufacturing and retail activity. Ekati, North America's first diamond mine which officially opened on October 14, 1998, has reached a milestone and produced its first million carats. If there is any part of Canada that can say "we hold the future", it must certainly be Yellowknife - The Diamond Capital of North America