NNSL (Apr 01/98) - "There are a lot of unknowns."

Diamond taskforce consultant Steve Richards made it clear in his presentation to city council Monday afternoon that Yellowknife still has a lot to learn on the subject of securing a piece of the diamond-industry action.

"Viability is certainly a challenge. We've heard lot of stuff -- people chatting about whether it can work or it won't work. We simply don't know," he said. "It is unknown. It is unfamiliar."

Richards, who was hired by the taskforce to study the diamond industry, said he has learned volumes about the diamond industry over the past few months.

However, he has been unable to gather much in the way of specifics about what the venture will mean for Yellowknife, and its role, if any in cutting and polishing the gems to be pulled from the ground by BHP, Diavik and other mining companies in the coming years.

It's not for a lack of effort, however.

The major players in the diamond industry tend not to be forthcoming with their intentions, Richards indicated.

He said key words in assessing the industry are: control, access and greed.

Then there's governmental indecision to endure, along with potential political and regulatory roadblocks. There are also question marks over the availability, volume and quality of the product.

Richards explained that small differences in the quality of each diamond can mean huge profits or equally impressive losses.

Regardless of the success any secondary diamond business, "it's a business not for the faint at heart," he said.

Yet, Richards remains optimistic. He said the city has developed good industry relationships, a fairly broad understanding of the industry and has done a good job of promotions -- such as the delegation's trip to Antwerp. As well, representatives from the city have caught the attention of federal and territorial government officials.

The diamond industry offers the possibility of plenty of employment opportunities, but again, the exact number of jobs is unknown. There's also spinoff businesses that will evolve.

"It's a tremendous range of opportunities associated with this industry," Richards said.

He also gave council progress reports on BHP and its Ekati mine and a briefing on De Beers' Central Selling Organization, which controls most of the world's diamond supply.

The fact that there have been two resignations from the task force -- David Connelly and Pierre Alvarez -- is no reason for concern, he added. The task force has essentially done its job and there's now little doubt diamond manufacturing is coming to the North, he said.