Canada stands at the brink of a major expansion in diamond mining, according to analysts. It produced 12.3 million carats of rough diamonds worth $1.7 billion in 2005 and 12.3 million carats worth $2.1 billion in 2004. The 2005 dip was due to lower-quality material being mined at Diavik and Ekati, the countries only diamond mines.
Both the open-pit mines are located in the Northwest Territories. A $227 million underground mining operation at Ekati, launched last April, is expected to yield 4.7 million carats over six years, according to Louis Perron, a senior policy adviser on diamonds for Natural Resources Canada (NRC), “Underground mining is also being studied at Diavik.” Meanwhile, Tahera Diamond Corp.’s Jericho Project in Nunavut is now producing stones and is expected to be in full production by the end of the first quarter of 2006.

Other prospective projects research is being carried out across Canada because of its highly prospective Precambrian Shield, with the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut all targeted. One company alone, Diamonds North Resources Ltd., has 15 separate exploration projects going, “that some 123 companies had spent $290 million on diamond prospecting last year, according to preliminary figures,” added Perron.

De Beers Canada is preparing to launch its first two diamond mines—Snap Lake in the Northwest Territories, 220 kilometers northeast of Yellowknife, which will produce 1.5 million carats a year for 20 years starting in 2007; and the Victor Project in northern Ontario, which will begin producing by 2008 and will be in full production the following year, yielding 600,000 carats a year for 12 years. A third mine is possible at Gahcho Kue, about 80 kilometers southeast of Snap Lake and 300 kilometers northeast of Yellowknife, which could produce 3 million carats a year starting in 2011. A fourth project is possible at Fort à la Corne 50 kilometers northeast of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Shore Gold is prospecting for diamonds nearby at its Star project, and more than 30 other firms are active in the region.