Yellowknife (July 14/04) - The impact of the diamond mining industry throughout the Northwest Territories is becoming enormous.

Once the Snap Lake Diamond Mine is operational, a payroll of close to $181 million will be flowing into the pockets of Northern residents annually.

Pierre LePage, chef and owner of Le Frolic and L'Heritage restaurant, says the diamond industry is the main reason he opened five years ago. - Lisa Scott/NNSL photo

The payroll impact is almost 10 times the payroll of Con Mine prior to last year's layoffs but slightly less than the Territorial government's $260 million payroll for 2003.

In 2004, BHP will employ 950 workers as well as between 700 to 800 permanent contractors. Fifty-eight per cent of these workers are Northern employees, representing close to 1,015 people, said BHP senior public affairs officer Denise Burlingame.

Diavik has close to 700 employees and contractors. Seventy-three per cent of these workers, close to 510, are Northern residents, said Tom Hoefer, Diavik's manager of external and internal affairs.

Snap Lake Diamond Mine is expected to employ close to 500 workers. If 65 per cent of De Beers workforces are Northern residents -- an average of BHP's and Diavik's Northern hires - - 325 Northern residents will find work at the mine.

Big numbers

Based on an average annual wage of $100,000 a year, the diamond mining industry's direct payroll and benefits impact for 1,810 Northern employees will be rising to $181 million a year.

NWT Diamonds, a report put out recently by the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Chamber of Mines, states that between 1991 and 2002, diamond mining contributed $2.9 billion to the gross domestic product in the NWT.

Also during this period, exploration activities contributed another $549 million to total GDP. Contribution to GDP in 1997 was $161 million and has grown to $776 million in 2002.

Over the five-year period from 1998 to 2003, the two operating diamond mines have contributed $37.6 million in property and fuel taxes directly to the GNWT, states the report.

The report also states that from 1996 to 2002, the two diamond mines spent $3.4 billion on goods and services. Of this total, $1.9 billion or 57 per cent has been from Northern businesses and 28 per cent or just under $1 billion has been Aboriginal businesses in the North.