First Nations must �learn from' De Beers deal

Greed is so grand.......and no one it seems is immune.

more chins than a chinese phonebook

Better to look at net income rather than revenue.

Revenue doesn't account for DeBeers expenses AFAIK.

True but without the mine the gross would be zero.

I doubt they are running that mine with a net in the single digit percents.

Would have been nice if the article stated how old the agreement is. It makes a huge difference if the deal was made 20 years ago as opposed to 2 years ago. Then again what do you really expect from the CBC?

These deals always sicken me. Why do Canadians routinely get 0.5 to 10% of net profits when European countries see 95%? It's not like there isn't a line of companies waiting to drill our oil or mine our minerals. Essentially we're giving away the nation's natural wealth for a few jobs.

That's too complicated for them, you know DeBeers gets it all for free.



However, just remember, with the FN, IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT THE MONEY !!!!

I agree, we need more national industry in our resource sector.
~
The story version of the story of Norway was, someone found oil, the big oil companies offered to extract it. Norway wouldn't have to do anything and they government would get money every year. Norway said no thank you, but can we hire some of your engineers to show us how to do it ourself?

And now most of the oil extracted is done by a subset layer of a national company. (IIRC the oil company is owned by the national electric company)

It was signed in 2005.
I personally know the Geologists that were searching for more kimberlite pipes in that area for DeBeers. Although it was known there was diamonds there for decades, they where there about 10ish years ago and had been for a few years before that.

It was signed in 2005.
I personally know the Geologists that were searching for more kimberlite pipes in that area for DeBeers. Although it was known there was diamonds there for decades, they where there about 10ish years ago and had been for a few years before that.


Resurrecting an old thread.
Regina, I'd be interested to hear this first hand. I remember watching a CBC or 5th Estate newscast about the search for diamonds in the north and from what I remember the essential theme was a couple of publically funded universities were up there searching for years (maybe decades) and once they made their discovery DeBeers swooped in and bought up 90% of the land and mineral rights. Does you friend know anything about that?

It also mentioned DeBeers is banned from operating on US soil for violation of monopoly laws because they stockpiled 95% of the world's diamond supply to keep the carat price incredibly high rather than the 100$ or so it would be if the market were flooded with the true number of available diamonds.

Funny how the Natives are always on us to honour our 'deals' but when they don't like a deal that they signed in good faith, they block the road in protest.

Never mind in good faith, but with all the modern legal advice at their disposal. It's just plain greed that's driving them now.

It was signed in 2005.
I personally know the Geologists that were searching for more kimberlite pipes in that area for DeBeers. Although it was known there was diamonds there for decades, they where there about 10ish years ago and had been for a few years before that.


Resurrecting an old thread.
Regina, I'd be interested to hear this first hand. I remember watching a CBC or 5th Estate newscast about the search for diamonds in the north and from what I remember the essential theme was a couple of publically funded universities were up there searching for years (maybe decades) and once they made their discovery DeBeers swooped in and bought up 90% of the land and mineral rights. Does you friend know anything about that?

It also mentioned DeBeers is banned from operating on US soil for violation of monopoly laws because they stockpiled 95% of the world's diamond supply to keep the carat price incredibly high rather than the 100$ or so it would be if the market were flooded with the true number of available diamonds.
Doesn't make sense that a university would be hunting for anything since there would be no expertise or motivation for doing so. The guys I knew worked for a company owned by De Beers and hired students to do the grunt work in the bush. Basically collecting bags of dirt and bringing them to the choppers to be flown out. Alll funded by DeBeers. Considering it's native land, I'm not sure what they could purchase.
It may not be the case right now, back then there was only one company who owned all the world's diamonds and that was DeBeers. They had a number of different company names but it was all the same. Seemed like a pretty cosy deal to me.