30 Fairmont Park Lane S
Lethbridge, AB
T1K 7H7
Phone: (403) 328-1704
Saturday, November 22, 2003
The Editor
The Lethbridge Herald
P.O. Box 670
Lethbridge
AB, T1J 3Z7
Dear Editor:
Sherri Gallant (Diamond in the rough?, Saturday, November 22, 2003) states: “Discovery of an economic band of diamonds in Alberta would take the pressure off the energy sector and provide considerable wealth and employment possibilities for the province”.
Would this take the pressure off Alberta’s energy sector? I wonder how.
It would require the use of more Alberta energy to mine the diamonds. Humans around the world depend on energy to live. The basic market for energy would remain unaffected by the vanity based demand for diamonds.
Annual diamond production at the Ekati mine in the Northwest Territories is around 3 million carats worth about $450 million. The fuels used in mining them produce about 200,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas. The federal government expects greenhouse gas credits to be no more than $15/tonne over the Kyoto period. The greenhouse gas liability from producing diamonds is thus only 3 million dollars or less than 1% of the diamonds sale price.
Production of diamonds in Alberta and Canada might provide the means to extract excess money from the world’s wealthy to pay for greenhouse gas emission credits to ensure Canada’s commitment to Kyoto is met, while supplying increasing global energy needs.
The Kyoto pressure, at least, is off the energy sector, and it seems some kind of international equity is achieved too. Thanks Sherri!
Yours truly,
Duane Pendergast