By BOB
WEBER
Canadian Press
Tuesday, November 19,
2002 – Print Edition, Page B6
Canada's growing diamond industry could see its first northern
jewellery manufacturer as a result of an agreement northern natives signed
with renowned New York jeweller Tiffany
& Co.
The memorandum of understanding, signed last week between Tiffany's and Kitikmeot Corp., commits the
parties to look for new ways to exploit the North's rich diamond
deposits.
"It sets up a relationship to see how we're going to work together and
see what kinds of opportunities will come from our operation in
Yellowknife," Andrew Hart, Tiffany's
vice-president of diamond operations, said from New York.
Tiffany recently announced plans to build
a $3-million (U.S.) diamond sorting and cutting plant in Yellowknife.
The plant is due to open in conjunction with Canada's second diamond
mine, Diavik. Tiffany is a minority
shareholder in Diavik partner Aber Resources Ltd.
Tiffany plans to buy $50-million worth of
rough diamonds a year from Diavik, cutting and polishing about a quarter
of them locally.
That production may be create other opportunities such as a jewellery
manufacturer, Mr. Hart said.
"There's an artisan tradition in the North and there's quite a
substantial group of tourists," he said. "We've got diamonds, we've got
gold. The combination of those factors led us to believe there's
opportunity here."
Mr. Hart said Tiffany's role would most
likely be to provide expertise in manufacturing and retailing jewellery.
The company could also provide diamonds from its Yellowknife plant.
"We don't envisage having a Tiffany's
northern brand," he said.
That would give northerners a chance to build something of their own,
said Keith Peterson of Kitikmeot Corp., a development corporation owned by
the Inuit of western Nunavut headquartered in Cambridge Bay.
"We can get some of our people in trained positions and management," he
said from Toronto.
"We don't want to be sitting in the NWT and Nunavut and not taking full
opportunities of what's in our own backyard."
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