Vancouver — A diamond from the Ekati mine in the Northwest Territories will be raffled to raise money for the British Columbia Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.
The raffle is part of the Mining for Miracles campaign, which receives donations from the mining sector, among others, for equipment and research.
For the third consecutive year, BHP Billiton has donated an Ekati diamond. This year, it is a 1.13-carat GVS1 stone with a wholesale value of $10,000. The gold setting and design work will be donated by Teck Cominco and Andrew Costen of Costen Catbalue Goldsmith, respectively.
The British Columbia Children’s Hospital is the only pediatric hospital in the province. It receives more than 150,000 patients per year, 65% of whom come from outside Vancouver. On a yearly basis, the hospital treats more than 750 cancer patients, performs close to 200 open-heart operations and 15 kidney transplants, and receives more than 35,000 patients in its emergency room.
“Over the past 16 years the mining community of British Columbia has been extremely generous to the hospital,” says Marina Dreszach of the British Columbia Children’s Hospital Foundation. “Over the next ten years, we want to have a ninety-five per cent survival rate for children battling cancer.”
The draw for the diamond will take place May 20 at the Club Plaza, between the Vancouver and Terminal City Clubs.
Last year’s raffle for the diamond raised $22,000.
The Mining for Miracles campaign is part of the Children’s Miracle Network Telethon. In 2003, the province’s mining industry and its employees raised more than $420,000 for the cause.
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