Chuck Fipke

Charles E. (Chuck) Fipke is a former prospector who discovered the existence of diamonds around Lac de Gras in Canada's Northwest Territories. He is now a multimillionaire diamond magnate, described as "near-sighted, goateed, short and tough as an oak stump, his speech jolted by a stutter and a hair-trigger laugh" [Krajick, K.: "Barren Lands: An Epic Search for Diamonds in the North American Arctic", 2001, ISBN 0-7167-4026-5.] .

Fipke was born in Edmonton, Alberta. In 1970, he graduated from University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Geology.

Fipke, called, "Stumpy" and "Captain Chaos" by employees, had made finding diamonds in the north of Canada his singular goal since their discovery in late 1970s. A joint venture between Fipke's Dia Met Minerals and BHP-Utah in the 1980s and 1990s culminated in the establishment of Canada's first diamond mine, Ekati Diamond Mine, in 1998. Fipke and partner Stu Blusson each own 10% of Ekati.

Fipke was divorced by his wife Marlene, who had been with him since he began searching for the diamonds. This divorce at the time was Canada's largest divorce settlement with her portion of the assets estimated to be approximately C$123.1 million.

In 2006, Fipke donated C$6 million to the University of British Columbia to support the creation of a centre for innovative research. [ [http://web.ubc.ca/okanagan/publicaffairs/mediareleases/2006/mr-06-049.html Charles E. Fipke Foundation Gives $6 Million] ]

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