Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Dec 06/99) - The North's second diamond-cutting and polishing facility should be constructed and operational in second- quarter 2000, said Chahe Arslanian, president of the Armenian-Dogrib joint-venture.

"It's always interesting to take on new possibilities. For me, it's interesting it's being done in Canada. We have factories in South Africa, Russia and Armenia. The Northwest Territories is a new step for us," he said.

Arslanian was in Yellowknife last week to officially sign a memorandum of agreement and a monitoring agreement with the Government of the Northwest Territories.

The first agreement, signed by Arslanian and Finance Minister Charles Dent, is the initial step in negotiating financial support for Arslanian Cutting Works (NWT) Ltd.

The GNWT will guarantee loans made by financial institutions to manufacturers who use the money to buy rough diamonds from BHP Diamonds. BHP has agreed to supply about 7,000 carats a month to NWT-based firms.

Arslanian declined to reveal how many carats the joint-venture has secured from BHP.

"It's good to see another corporate citizen join the ranks of employers in the NWT," Dent said.

The second agreement, signed by Arslanian and Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development Minister Stephen Kakfwi, establishes provisions for tracking rough diamonds to certification.

"Our government has had a vision that since the discovery of diamonds, we should work to ensure we are all part of the benefits," Kakfwi said.

The joint-venture partners are currently building their cutting and polishing facility at the Yellowknife airport near existing cutting firm Sirius Diamonds and the BHP diamond sorting facility.

The new building, built by Urbco subsidiary Ninety North, is estimated to carry a price tag of about $2 million. Architects on the project, co-ordinated by Tli Cho Logistics, are Yellowknife-based firm Park Sanders Adam Viske. Tli Cho is a Dogrib-Atco joint-venture company.

Arslanian said a handful of significant Canadian jewellers are already eager to purchase finished diamonds from Arslanian Cutting Works (NWT).

"They are keen to buy," he said.

Arslanian Cutting Works (NWT) will employ about 35 Northerners at the Yellowknife plant.

The Arslanians will bring in 28 trainers from abroad. These trainers will reside in Yellowknife for one year, said Hilary Jones, Arslanian Cutting Works operations director. The company is taking a "one on one" approach to training because it is eager to get the cutting and polishing skills transferred quickly, she added.

Some years after the joint-venture is operating, the partners plan a second facility to be located in a Dogrib community.

Dogrib Grand Chief Joe Rabesca said if industry and the GNWT are supporting the secondary diamond development, then the Dogrib are not going to "sit back and watch industry take off and have government approve it.

"We can address concerns if we are part of it."