NWT Maintains 3rd Place in Global Diamond Production Value

30 June 2016

(Yellowknife, NT – June 30, 2016) 2015 statistics released by the Kimberley Process, a joint governments, industry and civil society initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds, confirm the importance of diamond mining to Canada and the Northwest Territories. Canada remains in third place by value of production amongst all diamond producers in the world, but dropped from fourth to fifth place in total carat production. This is a testament to the Northwest Territories’ prominence in the world given that Natural Resources Canada statistics indicate that approximately 81% of Canada’s diamond production by value and 95% by carats came from the Northwest Territories in 2015 (remainder is from Ontario).

“It’s encouraging to see that we maintained our high value of production last year despite challenging market conditions,” said Chamber of Mines President Gary Vivian. “The unexpected closure of the Snap Lake mine and the Ekati mine fire are going to affect 2016 figures, and we are really looking forward to the opening of the NWT’s newest diamond mine, Gahcho Kué in the coming months.”

Global diamond production in 2015 was up 2% from 2014 to 127 million carats, however the value dropped 4 per cent to US$13.9 billion. Challenging global diamond prices saw the average value per carat of global production fall to US$109 from US$116 the previous year. Similarly, in the NWT average diamond value was US$144 per carat compared to US$167 per carat in 2014, an average price drop for NWT diamonds of 14%.

For more detailed statistics, visit the Kimberley Process Rough Diamond Statistics website here.

For more information on the NWT and Nunavut mining industries, please visit the Chamber of Mines website at www.miningnorth.com or contact Tom Hoefer, Executive Director at
Tel: 867-873-5281 or email: executivedirector@miningnorth.com