The press release announcing Canada’s first major diamond discovery in November 1991 was intentionally spare. You had to know something about diamond exploration to appreciate its significance. Only a handful of Canadians fitted this description and none happened to work for The Northern Miner. So when editor Jim Borland handed me the faxed release, I composed a small item about a 59-kg sample of kimberlite from the Northwest Territories that yielded 81 tiny diamonds for partners Dia Met Minerals and BHP-Utah Mines and didn’t give it another thought - until the news won bold headlines in Britain and Australia and shares of Dia Met began to skyrocket.
As awareness grew, people knowledgeable about diamond exploration emerged to explain the find’s significance. South African trained geologist Christopher Jennings, who for years had been trying to convince his superiors that Canada’s ancient cratons probably hosted diamonds, likened it to a one ounce per ton gold discovery over a considerable thickness. Suddenly, everyone was talking diamonds and their indicator minerals. A frenzied and ultimately successful race to prove up economic kimberlite pipes took hold.
The Point Lake discovery was The Northern Miner’s most exciting story since the Hemlo gold find, and I had randomly been given the privilege of covering it. As the beat exploded, fellow staff took to calling me the “queen of diamonds.” Eventually dozens of companies – a few legitimate but most closeologists– were in on the chase and the play was spreading to other parts of the country including Alberta, Saskatchewan and even an unlikely area of Montreal that hosted kimberlitic intrusions. By midday, every day, my inbox would fill with news of claims staked, kimberlites uncovered, or G10 garnets sampled. It was my job to distinguish the charlatans from the legitimate explorers, but sometimes the sheer volume of information would make my head spin. This girl’s best friend was becoming high maintenance.
I finally cracked and, scattering faxes in my wake, stormed into the office of then editor Olav Svela, insisting on a visit to Point Lake to see the $2.4 billion play unfolding for myself. I think he laughed, but I was only half joking. Shortly after that encounter, an opportunity to pursue a masters degree at U of T arose and I took it. My parting gift from the newspaper? A faux diamond ring. I’ll cherish it always.