A new staples industry? Complexity, governance and Canada's diamond mines

Abstract

The discovery of indicator minerals in the Slave geological province began a staking and development rush that, in a little over a decade, saw Canada becoming one of the world’s largest producers of diamonds. An examination of the institutions surrounding the development of the first two diamond mines illustrates the complexities associated with mineral development. An emerging picture of a new approach to the northern staples-based economy reveals efforts to promote responsible economic development within a sound environmental framework. Furthermore, this approach necessarily involves the incorporation of a group of policy actors with agendas, needs, and requirements qualitatively different from those of traditional resource developers and producers. Thus the new diamond projects are proceeding in a way that is qualitatively different from historical practices that have governed staples based development in the mineral sector.