|
RAPAPORT... In its mid-year socioeconomic impact statement, Diavik Diamond Mines Inc. reported that combined capital and operating expenditures totaled $237.6 million with roughly 62 percent of that amount directly funding Canada's northern business community. Nearly $62 million was spent with Aboriginal businesses for products and services used by the operators of the Diavik diamond mine. As of June 30, Diavik and its contractors employed 36 apprentices, all of whom were northern, while 21 were Aboriginal. The Diavik mine has doubled the number of apprentices in the past two years and since 2003, 32 Diavik apprentices have successfully achieved journeyperson certifications. The Diavik operation averaged 1,165 employees during the first half of 2012, and of these professionals, 642, or 55 percent, were priority-hire Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal northern workers. The Diavik diamond mine, located 300 kilometers northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories is an unincorporated joint venture between Rio Tinto (Diavik Diamond Mines Inc.) and Harry Winston Diamond Ltd.
|