It appears that the Northwest Territories may be losing their grip on the diamond industry in Canada. According to Robert Hawkins, MLA of the Yellowknife Centre, the diamond cutting plant that was just established in Sudbury, located in Northeastern Ontario, will be giving the Northwest Territories a run for their money. The Northwest Territories, also known as NWT or NT, is actually federal Canadian territory, situated between the areas of Yukon and Nunavut. Diamonds are one of the top natural resources in NWT, among others like gold, petroleum, and natural gas.

The new diamond cutting and polishing plant set in Sudbury, Ontario is the very first such facility to be set up in Ontario, Canada. Almost thirty skilled diamond workers were brought to Ontario for diamond cutting and polishing purposes. It is anticipated that the new diamond plant will be responsible for working with approximately twenty-five million dollars worth of diamonds in the year 2009 – 2010 alone.

The Sudbury diamond plant’s contract with the Canadian branch of the diamond conglomerate known as De Beers stipulates that the diamonds they are to receive will be from the De Beers’ Victor diamond mine located in close proximity to James Bay. With such support from De Beers, it appears that the Sudbury diamond plant is bound to become a crucial channel in the diamond industry worldwide.

Nonetheless, NWT currently has 3 diamond mines, all of which are less than 400 km from Yellowknife:

According to Robert Hawkins, Ontario is doing its absolute best to penetrate the diamond industry and they are concerned about the Northwest Territories’ ability to keep up the pace. The fact that it has become more affordable and cost effective to work with a diamond plant in Ontario obviously runs the risk of tipping the scales in their favor.

Nevertheless, Premier Floyd Roland explains that NWT’s diamonds are quite prestigious around the globe for their outstanding quality, not to mention their polar bear diamonds, so they’re not selling themselves short. Northwest Territories are also planning to bring on more employees to assist in their efforts since the global diamond market is beginning to recover from the recession.

The Canadian government does want to practice damage control to keep the Northwest Territories diamonds in business despite the rise of a potentially competitive market in Ontario. The good news is that no matter who has the upper hand in Canada, the world has plenty to gain from another environmentally safe, conflict-free source of diamonds.