De Beers officially opened Canada’s first Diamond Display Centre recently. The centre, which is located at De Beers Canada headquarters in Toronto, is the first permanent display of this type outside the Diamond Trading Co. in London, U.K.
“The Diamond Display Centre is a testament to the mystique of diamonds and the history of the diamond industry, but more importantly, it opens a window into the future of diamond mining in Canada,” says Jim Gowans, president and CEO of De Beers Canada.
The Diamond Display Centre explains the science and geology of diamonds, how geologists find diamonds, and how engineers build diamond mines, and lets visitors follow a diamond through the nine stages of cutting and polishing. A multimedia presentation component of the display includes videos, animations and photographs.
De Beers’ efforts to build the diamond centre indicate how new this industry is in Canada.
Canada’s first diamond mine, which opened in 1998, is now one of the largest diamond producers in the world by value — and that level of production is about to increase.
De Beers is investing about $2 billion in two new diamond mines — Snap Lake in the Northwest Territories and the Victor project in Ontario — which will become Canada’s fourth and fifth diamond mines in 2007 and 2008, respectively. When these two mines open, the value of diamonds produced in Canada will increase to $2.5 billion annually from roughly $1.5 billion.
The Victor diamond mine near Attawapiskat will be Ontario’s first diamond mine when it begins production in 2008.
De Beers is a member of the Ontario Mining Association.
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