2023-07-31 14:11:13
More than 30 years following the discovery of the first diamond mines in Canada, the diamond industry no longer shines in the country.
Diamonds don’t last forever…in Canada. Industrialists in the sector are concerned that the diamond mines, located mainly in the Northwest Territories, on the edge of the Arctic, are coming to the end of their life, even if one of them, Ekati , has just been bought last March by the Australian group Burgandy Diamond Mines, with the hope of increasing its lifespan until 2028.
Diamond mines are crucial to the economy of the Northwest Territories. On the other hand, the diamond weighs very little in the Canadian economy, with exports year following year of around 2.5 billion dollars per year. It is a mythical industry, but it only employs 15,000 people, directly and indirectly, including 30 to 40% of Amerindians in the mines. Canada produces around 14% of the world’s diamonds and there are currently four mines in the country: Ekati, Diavik and Gatcho Kué are located in the Northwest Territories. According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests of Quebec, the Belle Province has had its diamond mine since October 19, 2016: “the Renard mine of the mining company Stornoway Diamond Corporation. The probable mineral reserves of the deposit are of the order of 23.7 million tons at 75.5 carats per 100 tons”. Only this last mine is growing.
Mines often exhausted
Because the Canadian diamond industry has been struggling for a few years now. Between 2016 and 2021, the production of Canadian diamonds fell by 6.7% and by 9% between 2021 and 2022. Experts estimate that until 2026, the latter should still decrease by 7.7%. The Canadian diamond landscape is hardly more positive on the export side, which fell between 2021 and 2022 by 8.8%.
The local market is currently controlled by Anglo-American and Rio Tinto. The first diamond mines were not discovered until the early 1990s in the Northwest Territories, but most are close to being sold out or have already been closed, such as Snap Lake or Victor in Ontario.
Canada has had a brighter future than other producing countries, but few diamond mines have been discovered in recent years. The problem is here. Most experts believe that without new discoveries, the Canadian diamond industry might become marginal. Especially since the investments to operate a mine in the Arctic are colossal. Running it in a huge white desert is an economic challenge. The construction of Gatcho Kué, in the Northwest Territories, cost a billion dollars. It can only be reached in winter by planes equipped with skis on frozen slopes. All the logistics of the mine depend on trucks coming from the capital of the Northwest Territories, Yellowknife, located 300 km further south. Truckers travel in perilous conditions on icy roads at a speed that does not exceed 30 km per hour. The only reward in this other world, the wages of the workers are infinitely higher than elsewhere in the country. They often exceed $100,000 a year, more than four times the minimum wage.
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