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Giant diamond comes home

Nunavut stone donated to legislative assembly

DENISE RIDEOUT

CAMBRIDGE BAY — The chamber in Nunavut’s Legislative Assembly building may soon have a new sparkle to it.

The mace, which sits in the chamber when the legislative assembly is in session, could be adorned with a sparkling diamond discovered in the western Kitikmeot.

Tahera Corp., the mining company that found the diamond and owns the Jericho site southeast of Kugluktuk, made the announcement at last week’s Mining Symposium in Cambridge Bay.

The symposium, held April 5 to 8, brought together 200 representatives from exploration and mining companies in Canada and the United States.

"We’ve grown to fall in love with it", said Greg Missal vice-president of Tahera’s Nunavut operations, of the prized gem. "We call it the Nunavut stone."

During his talk at the symposium, Missal unveiled a photograph of the diamond, evoking awe from the audience.

Tahera will officially donate it to the Nunavut legislative assembly in early May, he said. MLAs will be consulted to determine if it will be placed on the tip of the mace or displayed in some other manner.

"We think the first diamond from Nunavut will be a nice touch to [the mace]," Missal said.

Tahera, a Toronto-based company, is in the business of diamonds. It’s staking major claims in the diamond belt in the Kitikmeot region.

In Nunavut, Tahera owns the Jericho site, along with the Rockinghorse and Hood River properties in the Kitikmeot.

The Jericho site promises to become Nunavut’s first diamond mine.

Jericho, which lies 250 kilometres southeast of Kugluktuk, is full of diamonds. Company officials anticipate a diamond mine at Jericho could operate for eight years, producing about three million carats of diamonds. The diamonds could be worth between US$74 to US$88 per carat.

Inuit are set to benefit from the diamond rush. Because the Jericho site is located on "Inuit impacted lands," Tahera is compelled to hire locally. The company has said it’s aiming to have a 60 per cent Inuit workforce.

Some Inuit in the Kitikmeot have been preparing for the day the Jericho mine will start digging for diamonds.

During the past several years, the Kitikmeot Employment and Training Partners has been offering courses in heavy equipment operations. The courses trained Kitikmeot residents to run dump trucks, loaders and bulldozers — skills the mine will require during the construction and operation stages.

But Kitikmeot residents eagerly awaiting Jericho’s start-up will have to be patient.

Initially, Tahera expected to begin construction of the proposed mine in 2003. But the target date has been pushed back due to a shake-up in the company’s leadership. In August, the company’s chief executive officer was ousted and replaced by an Australian mining magnate.

Now, Tahera is on a new path.

"There’s a slightly different strategy with Tahera this year. We’re getting more involved in joint ventures," Missal said.

In September, Tahera signed an agreement with another global mining company, Kennecott. Through their partnership, Kennecott can earn interest in the Jericho diamond project, as long as it funds the exploration work. Specifically, Kennecott has to spend $1 million on exploration, which includes drilling 20 target areas.

The extensive drilling is slated to begin this spring. They’ll be digging into the tundra in search of kimberlites, the ever-sought-after diamond-bearing rocks.

Tahera’s main focus will be finding the root sources of the kimberlites. During exploration, the company found scattered patches of kimberlite and is confident there are larger sources lying somewhere under the tundra.

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