Prosperous 2017 for De Beers means N.W.T. diamond industry warming up: Chamber of Mines

A prosperous year for De Beers Canada could mean the diamond industry is warming up in Northwest Territories, according to the executive director of NWTand Nunavut Chamber of Mines.

In the 2017 fiscal year, De Beers Canada brought in close to $260 million in earningsbefore interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

"We had a tremendous production year. We had the biggest ever production output from Canada," said Kim Truter, CEO of De Beers Canada.

"We're looking at another bumper year from Canada, something we're very excited about."

Truter saidit'sthanks in large partto the Gahcho Kuemine, located about 280 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife.

It began its commercial production for diamonds last March.

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Tom Hoefer, executive director of the chamber, says these numbers are a good sign for the territory.

"What it means is they're finding people to buy the rough diamonds, and when demand for rough diamonds goes up, then generally the prices of those rough diamonds goes up," he explained.

"So if the world is saying that they're hungry for rough diamonds, then all of our diamond mines' prices should be going up as well, one hopes."

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Hoefer says he's hopeful these numbers mean diamond sales will improve in the Northwest Territories.

De Beers Canada says they're expecting profits to continue to grow in 2018 thanks to Gahcho Kuemine.

The mine yielded close to 4-million carats of diamonds for the company, while De Beers' Victor Mine in Ontario contributed just over 730,000carats.

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