De Beers is touting a 35 carat diamond from its open pit mine near James Bay, which will be used to promote Ontario fancy gems.
Crossworks Manufacturing, which purchased the stone, is cutting and shaping it into a square pattern. It will then take the gem on an international tour.
The head of the Canadian Jewellers Association, David Ritter, told the Toronto Star that the finished diamond could be worth a lot.
“In Canada, this is somewhat rare,” he said.
“Could it be worth a million dollars? Yeah, it could.”
Victor is a 5,000 ha diamond mine located high in the Canadian Arctic, approximately 90 km west of the community of Attawapiskat, which lies on the shores of James Bay in northern Ontario.
Victor is the first diamond mine for the province of Ontario and De Beers second Canadian mine. It is regarded as an operation that will produce a great deal of gem quality diamonds.
The mine was officially opened on July 26, 2008. Actual mine life is estimated at 12 years and total project life is expected to be 17 years.
