Canada's New Stampede: Diamonds
Exploration for Diamonds Began in the 1960s
Mineral-rich, the Northwest Territories became the center of exploration for the prized stones. Canada is now the third-largest diamond producer in the world.
Enrobed in a dark pyroclastic rock called kimberlite, diamonds sat hidden from the prospector’s eye for untold eras. (Pyroclastic rocks are formed during a volcanic eruption; diamonds are formed of carbon atoms heated and compressed deep into the earth for thousands of years.) Occasionally, a small number of the precious stones became visible as glaciers retreated, and then, as exploration took hold, veins of kimberlite dotted with rough diamond rocks were found. Canada was about to join South Africa, Russia and other countries in the diamond mining business.
The first Canadian diamond found in Ontario in 1863 was, according to The Atlas of Canada, buried in glacial debris. Decades later in 1920, a large 33-carat stone was found during railway construction at Peterborough, Ontario, but exploration for the precious stones did not begin until the 1960s. Small diamonds were found near Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and later more nearby Timmins, Ontario, but none of the finds warranted full mining operations.
Diamond exploration moved north, to the lands of glaciers and permafrost.
Prospectors began tests on rock samples in the Northwest Territories in 1981, finding enough “indicator minerals” to suggest veins of kimberlite with diamonds were possible. The Lac de Gras vicinity held the most possibility in 1989, with tests showing a “diamondiferous kimberlite pipe.” A small stampede of diamond prospectors – large companies and smaller upstarts - rushed to the frosty Territory to stake their claims.
The first Canadian diamond mining operation to open was Ekati in October, 1998. Located about 300 kilometers northeast of Yellowknife, it was an open pit mine working on five separate kimberlite pipes, dubbed Fox, Koala, Sable, Panda and Misery. Less than five years later, Diavik began operations in January 2003. The mining of diamonds is not an easy process – tons of rock must be mined, moved, crushed and sorted to find the small, rough stones.
Mines expected to produce millions of carats
The Diavik mine’s production is “expected to peak at six to eight million carats a year which is about 5 % of the world’s total supply.” The Ekati mine’s projected peak is slightly less at “three to five million carats a year, 4 % of world production by volume,” said Diamond Source in 2005. According to a CBC Newsstory in September 2007, those quantities translate into a 1.5 kilogram bag of diamonds every day, with a value of $1.5 million dollars for each bag. Canada’s diamond industry ranks as the third-largest diamond producer in the world.
Diamond giant De Beers of South Africa recently took an interest in Canada’s mineral wealth, opening the Snap Lake mine in the Northwest Territories, and Victor mine in northern Ontario. The territory of Nunavut now has its first diamond mine; Jericho opened in the summer of 2007 by Tahera Diamond Corporation. Each mine has an approximate 20-year life span.
The diamond has industrial uses
Diamonds are not only for glittering rings on the fingers of the beloved. The hard rocks are used for surgical cutting blades and thermal conductors. They are integrated into television, telephone, cd players, laser printers and other equipment, and used for industrial cutting and grinding. (And years ago, diamonds were used as the needles on record players.)
Canadian diamonds are valued as the best diamonds world-wide for clarity and quality. The stones are produced in an honourable manner, unlike South African diamonds known as blood diamonds, that are used to pay for the activities of war and terror.
As a defining trademark, each Canadian diamond is etched with a miniscule Polar Bear.
See these fascinating sites for more about Canadian diamond mining:
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