The growth of diamond mining in Canada and implications for mining productivity

Given the very high level of output per hour in the diamond mining industry – reflecting a high degree of economic rent – and the strong expected growth of the industry in the coming years, the labour productivity growth of the overall mining industry will be favourably affected. [...] The greater the Canadian involvement in these downstream activities, the greater will be the Canadian share of the value added of the diamond industry, from the mining of rough Canadian stones to the final sale of jewelry products. [...] Given this very high level of output per hour and the strong expected growth of the diamond mining industry in the coming years, the labour productivity growth of the overall mining industry will be favourably affected. [...] The first discusses the general characteristics of the diamond mining industry in Canada upon which some data are available, makes observations on other mining industries that likely apply to the diamond mining industry as well, and attempts to quantify the broader impacts of the diamond mining industry on the Canadian economy. [...] Therefore, the higher the Canadian involvement in these types of industry, the larger will be the wealth created by the mining of diamonds in Canada.