News from the National Post:
First 100% Canadian diamonds go on sale
Mined, cut, polished here
David Staples and Charles Frank
National Post, Calgary Herald
The first shipment of diamonds
mined, cut, and polished in
Canada, are on sale in
Vancouver.
Two of the first diamonds mined
at the new $1-billion Ekati Mine
in the central Northwest
Territories were unwrapped for
the first time yesterday.
Sirius Diamonds Ltd. of
Vancouver cut the stones and
shipped them to Brinkhaus, The
Jewellery Source, a Calgary and
Vancouver diamond shop.
Each of the polished diamonds
at Brinkhaus will include a
laser-cut image of a polar bear,
invisible to the naked eye, to
guarantee its authenticity as a
Canadian gem.
The market value of the first shipment is estimated to be about $15,000.
"I've been dreaming about this for 10 years,'' said Norbert Brinkhaus, owner of the 60-year-old
family-owned business. "Everybody wanted to be the first to display them.''
Sirius is training nine people at its Victoria cutting and polishing shop to staff a new operation at the
Yellowknife airport.
That facility will open by May 1 and receive about 2% of the Ekati diamond mine's rough stones.
Most of the other diamonds will be marketed through a distribution centre in Antwerp, Belgium.
Over 100,000 carats of Northwest Territories diamonds have been sent to Antwerp, for sale in January.
"We sense there's a strong interest,'' reported Graham Nicholls, spokesman for BHP Diamonds,
operator and 51% owner of Ekati.
When the mine is running full-tilt in March, BHP expects to find about 250,000 carats per month.
Nicholls said the value of the stones has confirmed bulk sample estimates of $130 (US) per carat on
average.
But that's an estimate.
"Everybody is waiting to see what they get for the diamonds,'' said Robert Klassen of Goepel Shields
& Partners in Vancouver. "Diamonds are a luxury item.''
Sirius will take 2,000 carats a month, and aims to grow to 5,000 carats per month.
PHIL |
