Earlier this month, the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) made its way over to Canada in order to strengthen its relationship with our diamond sector, seeing as Canada is the third largest diamond producer in the world and a vital rough diaond supplier to Antwerp, Belgium.
Led by Antwerp governor Cathy Berx, the delegation made stops in Montreal, Toronto and Yellowknife.
The AWDC also made a point to meet with Stornoway mining company in order to discuss the possibility of commercializing production from the Renard mine in Quebec through Antwerp, which could increase the share of rough diamonds from Canada on the Antwerp market by 64 per cent.
Ari Epstein, CEO of the AWDC, said in a statement, “A number of legislative changes have ensured that the regional and local authorities, such as the Northwest Territories, have obtained wider competencies as concerns the mining industry. This mission was important for Antwerp as a diamond center because of these new political arrangements. The new political leaders confirmed and reinforced the strong current relationship.”
According to Antwerp Governor Cathy Berx, “We clearly share the same values, such as transparency, the importance of correct controls and corporate social responsibility. We can conclude this was a very successful mission.” CJ
