SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The troubled diamond cutting and polishing plant, Arslanian Cutting Works, has reportedly been sold, according to two former employees.

Yellowknifer was told Friday by a former employee who wished to remain anonymous that Arslanian was sold to the HRA Group, owner of Crossworks Manufacturing, the lone operational cutting and polishing plant in Yellowknife.

When asked about the reports of the sale, Dylan Dix, worldwide marketing director for HRA, said the company "currently have no comment" about the sale, neither confirming nor denying the purchase.

"We will have to get back to you," Dix said. "If anything does occur, or in the future we have any announcements I will make myself available to give proper comment."

Employees were laid off last week, according to Artur Margaryan, who was one of the employees to lose his job. The exact number of people who lost their jobs is unclear, but as of last fall the plant employed 19 people.

"Yeah, we got fired last week," Margaryan said on Friday afternoon. Disappointed to have lost his job, he said he is undecided whether he plans to stay in Yellowknife. "I don't really know what I'm going to do at this point," said Margaryan.

Arslanian has been plagued with problems over the past year. The plant laid off 35 employees last June and in July rehired five and announced plans to rehire the remaining 30 in October or November of 2009. In the fall, 14 of those 30 were rehired, only to face a second shut down just before the Christmas season. Ron Basal, co-owner of the plant, told Yellowknifer in December it was reassessing what to do with the plant in the new year.

At its peak, Arslanian polished 4,000 diamonds a month, compared to a rate of 1,000 a month this past September. Bob Bies, general manager of the plant, told Yellowknifer last September that cash flow was a problem for the plant.