Diamond Mining in Canada

Diamonds are the hardest substances in the world and it is one of the most expensive and luxurious jewelries worn by humans.

Introduction

Introduction

Due to their hardness, diamonds are used as a tool  to smoothen objects. Small pieces of diamonds, are put into saw blades, drill bits, and grinding wheels, these then are used to cut, drill, and grind hard materials. They may be grounded and turned into paste, so that it can be used for very fine grinding or polishing. Also, because of their breathtaking look, it is worn as jewelry by many.

Diamonds are a non-renewable resource. They take up to billions of years to form. Diamonds are formed within the earth’s crust under intense heat and pressure, which causes carbon atoms to crystallize into diamonds.

Diamonds are found approximately 150 - 200 kilometers beneath the earth’s surface. Kimberlite is an igneous rock, which contains diamonds and other materials. In Order for us to collect these diamonds, Kimberlite needs to erupt, because as it erupts it brings diamonds and other materials along with it. It has been a very long time since the last Kimberlite has erupted, but miners still have access to these diamonds. There are 3 ways miners extract the diamonds in Canada. The 3 ways are: alluvial mining, pipe mining, and marine mining. Different mines use different ways of mining, depending on the location


Patterns/trends

Patterns

Map of past, present, and future diamond mines in Canada

There are currently 5 active diamond mines in Canada. The Ekati, Diavik, and the Gahcho Kué mines are located in Northwest Territory. There is one in Ontario; the Victor mine. And there is one in Quebec, the Renard mine. There will be mining in Saskatchewan, called the Star-Orion mine in the future. Two mines have shut down due to the loss of production in those areas. The two mines that were closed are the Jericho mine in Nunavut, and the Snap Lake mine in Northwest Territory.

Most of the mines are located in the Northwest Territory. This is due to the fact that there is a Kimberlite pipe located about 170 miles northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territory. The Ekati mine, Diavik mine, and the Snap The Attawapiskat kimberlite field is a field of kimberlite pipes located in Northern Ontario approximately 90 km west of Attawapiskat First Nation,  Ontario , where the Victor mine gets access to their diamonds. The Renard mine mines their diamonds at a kimberlite field located approximately 250 km north Chibougamau, Quebec. There aren’t any physical features or processes that have a role in the creation/growth of diamonds, because there hasn’t been a kimberlite explosion for the last 30 million years. Like stated before, diamonds are a non-renewable resource, which means it takes billions of years to form.

Trends

Graph of production volume of diamonds and the value in Canada from 2010 - 2019

Here we can see a graph of the production volume of diamonds in Canada from 2010 to 2019. Over the years it has had a roller coaster ride. In 2010 the production volume was at 11.8 million carats, which then slowly started to go down to 10.6 million carats in the next three years. The production volume increased in 2014, to 12.0 million carats and then decreased a little to 11.7 million carats in 2015. It increased in 2016 to 13.0 million. The production grew at a steady pace to a whopping 23.2 million carats in 2017 and 2018. Unfortunately, the production volume decreased by 20% in 2019, to 18.6 million carats.


Interrelationships

Interrelationships

Diamonds are very useful when cutting out tools due to their hard physical quality. On top of that, they have a very exquisite as well as luxurious appearance, making them ideal for jewelry.

Mined diamonds have a horrible affect on the environment, as the soil, water, and surrounding air gets polluted. This is due to the fact that a lot of soil is being extracted from the ground. The wind then comes and blows some of the soil away, polluting the surrounding air and water. Diamond mining also causes soil erosion, deforestation, and ecosystem destruction. Due to the nature of mining, the excretion of diamonds churns out a horrible effect on the environment.

As of right now, the use of diamonds isn’t very sustainable. We are extracting a lot and not thinking about the future generations. Many mines in Canada have closed because the diamonds in that area have run out. As we are extracting these diamonds we are harming the environment which is also not good for the future generations.

To make the use of diamonds more sustainable, we can do a lot of things. One thing being reducing the amount of diamonds we extract and consume. Diamond isn’t something that is NEEDED in order to live. It’s more like we want diamonds. For sometime we should cut down on the amount of diamonds we extract, so that we aren’t at risk of running out very fast, as diamonds are a non-renewable resource. We can also make policies to help this process. We can have a policy where a person can only buy a certain amount of diamonds in 1 year, so that we can cut down on over consumption. Another way we can make it more sustainable is using techniques to mine so that we aren’t harming the environment. We can do this by using more greener equipment, by not making as much dust when we mine, and by not destroying ecosystems to extract our diamonds. Canada has many diamond mines, to help keep it sustainable the government issued the “The Minerals and Metals” policy. This policy was put into place after an extensive discussion that involved representatives from federal government and agencies, provincial and territorial mines ministries, industries, environmental groups, labour, and Aboriginal groups. This policy states the provincial jurisdiction over mining, describes a role for the federal government in minerals and metals that is tied to other federal responsibilities, and commits the government to pursuing partnerships with stakeholders in addressing issues within its jurisdiction.

Production Volume of diamonds worldwide in 2020, by country. (In million carats)

Canada is the third leading country in the world for production volume of diamonds as of 2020. Diamonds being one of the most hardest and expensive substances in the world, it brings a fortune to Canada’s economy. The diamond industry employed 409 000 directly and 217 000 people indirectly as of 2018. In 2019, Canada produced 18.6 million carats of diamond. This made Canada a whopping $2.21 billion dollars in 2019. This money benefits everyone living in Canada, because the money is put towards projects to benefit the local residents.


Geographic Perspectives

Geographic Perspectives

Four stakeholders of the diamond mines in the Northwest Territories are the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people, laborers, the government, and local communities.

First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people: Most of the population in the Northwest Territories are The First Nations, Métis and Inuit. The diamond mines affect them as most of the diamond mines are located on their lands; the Northwest Territories. They believe in the conservation of natural resources. The Diamond mines have to remove lands and destroy ecosystems in order to access the diamonds. This is going against their beliefs and wills as it is their land. To solve this problem before starting to mine diamonds, the industries should get the approval of the First Nations, Métis and the Inuit people to start mining.

Laborers -  The diamond mines supply many job opportunities to Canadians, but working in the diamond mines also has many hazards. These hazards include losing hearing due to all the noise made by the machines, having accidents, chopping off a body part and many more other hazards.

The government - The money made from exporting diamonds helps Canada’s economy a lot. Canada is the third largest producer by volume in the world, meaning that we are making a lot by exporting these diamonds.

Local Communities -  Local communities are a major stakeholder, as the diamond mines are located near them. Whatever goes wrong in the diamond mines affects the local community. If there are any irt from the diamond mines in the water way, that’s going to affect the local community as they will have to drink that water, the community has to deal with the loud noises, the environment around them are being cut down because of these industries and there are many more issues faced by the local communities that are situated around diamond mines in Canada.

To manage our diamonds, we should conserve them for some time and stop thinking about extracting so many and exporting these diamonds to other countries. By extracting these diamonds and exporting them we are making the use of diamonds less sustainable. By taking a break on extraction, it would help us make diamonds more sustainable.

References

Map of past, present, and future diamond mines in Canada

Graph of production volume of diamonds and the value in Canada from 2010 - 2019

Production Volume of diamonds worldwide in 2020, by country. (In million carats)