Judy Richards, president of Davidson’s Jewellers, offered a trip to Yellowknife, NWT, as the main auction prize at the Gold Medal Plates Event held Sept. 22 at the National Gallery. Her goal was to raise approximately $10,000 in each of four cities across Canada for the Canadian Olympic Committee Excellence Fund. The prize included a tour of Canada’s first diamond mine and a chance to sit at the cutter’s bench to facet a diamond.

The “Adventure of a Lifetime” begins July 11, 2005, with a flight to Yellowknife, NWT. The winner will stay at the Chateau Nova and spend the evening touring Yellowknife under the midnight sun. Next comes a tour of the Ekati Diamond Mine—open pit mining, kimberlite pipes containing diamond rough, and the crushing and sorting plant. Also slated is a visit to the “Polar Ice” Diamond Cutting & Polishing Factory, where the winner will be able to sit at the cutter’s bench and take a turn at cutting a Canadian diamond.

The prize includes a “Polar Ice” Canadian Diamond (value $1,500) to take home as a memento. The trip also will be offered in Calgary on Sept. 27, Edmonton on Sept. 28, and Vancouver on Nov. 3.