The Good, The Bad and the Ugly About Canadian Diamonds
The Diavik Mine in Canada’s NW Territories
Introduction:
Canadian diamonds have become the clear choice for many people who wish to avoid the African supply chain, even though many countries in Africa depend upon this resource to survive. This article, written by Alan Young and Larry Innes of the NGO, Canadian Boreal Initiative, points to the ecological damage of diamond mining in Canada.
Many readers of this blog will believe some of what is written is inaccurate: “The fact is that today, no one can sell a diamond, gold, or any gem and say it was mined responsibly.”
No one can authentically claim mining is a sustainable or ecologically friendly activity. However, everyone depends upon mining and drilling. The vast majority of diamonds mined in Canada come from Diavik and the Ekati mines. Other diamond mines, particularly one owned by DeBeers, is due to ramp up production soon.
Even if the footprint is light considering the vastness of the area, what if ten more diamond mines were to be opened?
I am currently in correspondence with Alan Young. I’ll be posting more about this subject at a later date. Special thanks for permission to reprint this article which previously appeared in the Toronto Star:
Can We Provide The World With ‘Clean’ Diamonds?
The romance and allure of diamonds has been tarnished by the growing awareness of the bloodshed and conflicts associated with their extraction in Congo, Sierra Leone and other parts of Africa.
With the release of Hollywood’s ‘Blood Diamond’, the diamond industry will be under the microscope. It might even take a hit as shoppers look to buy a lasting expression of love, while the industry scrambles for answers to tough questions about the origin of these precious gems.
There is a cruel irony about the marketing of “Polar Bear diamonds” at a time when the polar bear is being seriously threatened by global warming and the incursion of development into Canada’s boreal region. Some consumers and retailers are looking to Canada’s boreal region as the source of clean diamonds, as an easy way to avoid the guilt about potentially buying blood diamonds from Africa.
But is it that simple?
Currently, there is a diamond rush in the boreal region. In the past decade, several of the world’s largest diamond companies have opened mines in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Ontario.
Canada is the third-largest diamond-producing nation in the world with production reaching 12.6 million carats. And it is only the beginning.
The global market for diamonds, worth billions of dollars per year, is also being subsidized by Canadian taxpayers through a federal “flow-through” tax credit program that rewards exploration companies and their investors for their “risks.”
This program is also enabled by an antiquated “free entry” tenure system, which does not respect the rights and interest of aboriginal communities or other land users, nor takes conservation into consideration.
There are serious threats and challenges posed by diamond exploration and mining in Canada.
Hundreds of thousands of hectares of mineral claims are being “staked” without consultation – let alone approved by affected communities, many of whom are in land claims negotiations and land use-planning exercises.
Beyond this level of disruption, there are the physical effects caused by the activities: drilling, road building and, eventually, mining with its legacy of open pits, tailings ponds and the web of industrial infrastructure that comes with these billion-dollar enterprises.
As a result, those involved in Canada’s rush for diamonds and other minerals are on a collision course with aboriginal communities, environmentalists and many ordinary Canadians who believe that the boreal region should not turn into a free-for-all.
Unless things change, the resulting conflicts will be damaging for everyone: affected communities, the industry, investors and the retailers and consumers who want products they can feel good about.
The fact is that today, no one can sell a diamond, gold, or any gem and say it was mined responsibly.
In this respect, Canada is at a crossroads. Will it live up to the challenge of an honourable, equitable, responsible industry that shows how diamond mining can be done right?
Canada must lead the way, by protecting the boreal forest and supporting the implementation of a verification system that can truly ensure conflict-free diamonds.
There are solutions.
In Canada, governments, companies and retailers need to embrace a vision of sustainability for the boreal forest for the long term. They need to be able to assure and verify for consumers that these diamonds don’t come with their own conflict.
The Canadian Boreal Initiative (CBI) supports an integrated and balanced approach to protecting ecological and cultural integrity, while promoting leading-edge development practices that support responsible stewardship of natural resources.
The CBI has convened leaders from different industries, aboriginal groups, and NGOs in the boreal forest, to work on sustainable solutions through a joint commitment to the Boreal Forest Conservation Framework.
One of the tools promoted by the CBI is land-use planning, which is underway in some areas of the boreal, ensuring that conservation and community values are not undermined by exploration.
Where agreements have been reached with communities around environmental and economic issues such as with the Ekati and Diavik diamond mines in the Northwest Territories or with the Victor mine in Ontario, the companies must operate to the highest standards, be transparent in their reporting on activities and be willing to make community and ecological health their highest priority. The profitability of these mines allows no excuse for compromises.
The promise of a pure diamond needs to be supported by a real commitment to protecting the sustainability of the land and the people where it originated.
There is a cruel irony about the marketing of “Polar Bear diamonds” at a time when the polar bear is being seriously threatened by global warming and the incursion of development into Canada’s boreal region.
There is still time to make the boreal forest a diamond’s best friend.
Larry Innes is acting executive director of the Canadian Boreal Initiative.
Reprinted with permission.*www.thestar.com
