Yellowknife (Oct 06/03) - By next July the national diamond strategy will be complete.

Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development deputy minister Bob McLeod made the declaration by cell phone from Toronto after having survived Hurricane Juan which slammed Nova Scotia Sept. 28.

McLeod was in Halifax along with government mining officials from across the country who approved and released a mandate and a work plan on the strategy, agreeing the document would be provided to premiers for their consideration Oct. 24.

The strategy will act as a mechanism through which benefits to the territory and the country as a whole can be maximized, said McLeod.

"We intend to do that by maximizing the diamond pipeline from the ground to the finger," he said.

The Northwest Territories and Quebec are co-leading the development of the strategy that will look at a range of issues across the entire diamond industry.

These issues include: diamond exploration, mining, rough diamonds, polished diamonds, diamond jewelry, diamond retail sales and diamond tourism, stated a territorial news release issued Sept. 30.