The purpose of this report is to provide a critical analysis of the effects of the diamond industry in the Northwest Territories. It has been ten years since the first diamond mine began production. Since that time, two additional diamond mines have opened in the Territory with a fourth in the regulatory permitting process. The production of diamonds has allowed the creation of a secondary industry in sorting, cutting and polishing. Combined, the industry contributes to the overall economic growth of the Northwest Territories and the well-being of the local population through its expenditures on labour and capital. The direct, indirect and induced impacts of these expenditures are analysed in this report.
The 2008 NWT Diamonds report is the third in the series published by the Mining Association of Canada in cooperation with the NWT/Nunavut Chamber of Mines. The last report was published in 2005 and covered the period 1991 to 2004. This year’s edition extends the quantitative analysis to 2007. The focus of this analysis starts in 1999 which coincides with the first full year of production at the Ekati Diamond Mine (herein referred to as ‘Ekati’).
The findings of this report are based largely on quantitative analysis of readily-available, public data collected by Statistics Canada, NWT Bureau of Statistics, various government departments, and the mine operators.
