'Diamonds are forever,' but not necessarily so for northern mining industry

Aya Dufour · CBC News

· Posted: May 13, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 21 minutes ago

DeBeers precocious renewed its absorption connected earthy diamonds aft experimenting with laboratory grown ones, but that astir apt won't beryllium capable to revive diamond mining successful bluish Ontario, according to immoderate moving successful the sector.

In a property merchandise past week, the mining elephantine pointed to a crisp diminution successful prices for lab-grown diamonds, and said that inclination underpinned the company's "core content successful rare, precocious worth and earthy diamond jewellery."

DeBeers started its lab-grown diamond concern astir the aforesaid clip it closed its lone diamond task successful Ontario — the Victor Mine adjacent Attawapiskat First Nation successful the province's acold north. 

Victor was a productive and profitable excavation for DeBeers, which was capable to retrieve 8.3 cardinal carats of diamonds betwixt 2006 and 2019. 

But diamond prices person decreased wide since that clip due to the fact that of a changing user preferences and the detonation of the lab-grown diamond market. 

Sudbury jeweller Gerry Aubin says nowadays lone 1 successful astir 100 100 customers comes successful asking for earthy diamonds. 

"This past twelvemonth I've sold 1 earthy stone," helium said. "Everybody's buying lab-grown, similar it's not adjacent a treatment that radical are having." 

Aubin says lab-grown prices are truthful overmuch cheaper, and radical can't differentiate them from earthy ones. 

Marketing to revive involvement successful earthy diamonds

Justin Daley, CEO of inferior exploration institution VR Resources, has noticed a akin trend. 

"I'm 35 years old, a batch of my friends are getting married, not galore of them are buying diamonds," helium said. 

"It's hard to warrant buying a precise costly chromatic erstwhile you tin conscionable bargain an emerald." 

VR Resources made an important diamond find "by accident" successful the James Bay portion successful 2023 portion exploring for different minerals. 

Daley says the deposit is promising, but helium isn't banking connected it.

"There's been precise small involvement successful wide successful the project," helium said. 

"Existing diamond mines aren't making money, and erstwhile existing mines don't marque wealth you thin not to spell looking for caller ones." 

In past week's property release, DeBeers said its program is to put successful "reinvigorating tendency for earthy diamonds done class marketing," but Daley isn't convinced that volition chopped it.

"It took a batch of truly astute selling by DeBeers to make this benignant of aura of mystique and allure, 'Diamonds are forever,' but that's conscionable benignant of worn itself retired I think," helium said. 

But Mike McTavish, proprietor of Forage Fusion Drilling, is striking a much optimistic tone. 

"I don't deliberation we'll ever usage that portion of the market," helium said. "Yes, we tin nutrient a batch of worldly successful labs now. But I inactive judge existent diamonds are the best." 

He does say, however, that diamond drilling contracts person been fewer and acold between, and they don't wage arsenic overmuch arsenic they utilized to.

It's thing helium feels a spot nostalgic astir the emergence of lab-grown diamonds. 

"It's bittersweet that we don't trust connected the bully aged prospector hammering connected a fewer rocks," helium said. "That's wherefore we bash exploration drilling, we get to spell and find the unknown."