Yellowknife (Oct 15/03) - Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Robert Nault has backed the territorial government in its effort to secure rough diamonds from De Beers Canada's Snap Lake mine for the Northern cutting and polishing industry.

Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Robert Nault has endorsed a recommendation calling on De Beers to supply rough diamonds to Northern manufacturers. -

In an Oct. 10 letter to the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board, Nault endorsed the board's recommendations on the Snap Lake project.

One of those recommendations states that De Beers socio-economic agreement "shall include the provision of rough diamonds from the proposed Snap Lake mine to the local NWT secondary diamond industry."

Nault's decision is a vindication of the board's recommendations, said Roland Semjanovs, communications officer for the board.

"What is significant about this report of environmental assessment is that DIAND has accepted the recommendations without modification," said Semjanovs.

It would be inaccurate to imply this decision was made particularly for De Beers, said Semjanovs, adding the law must be followed by all companies.

The scope of Nault's decision includes both socio-economic and environmental issues.

"What the board is saying is we would like to see the (environmental) terms entered into evidence so the board can determine whether its mitigations are being met," Semjanovs said.

While Semjanovs highlighted the environmental importance of the decision, he rejected a suggestion that the board and the territorial government are working at cross purposes.

"Recommendation No. 37 states De Beers and GNWT shall negotiate and sign a socio-economic agreement prior to the issuance of a water licence," said Semjanovs. The socio-economic agreement will deal with supply of rough diamonds.

Recommendation No. 28 states: 'De Beers and the government of Canada and the GNWT shall negotiate and sign an environmental agreement prior to the issuance of a production water licence.'

"If De Beers wants to operate -- any company that wants to operate -- must abide by the legislation and regulations. It's unfair to single out one company. These laws and regulations apply equally to any company," said Semjanovs.