Dominion Diamond reports lower Q3 sales from N.W.T. mines

Dominion Diamond Corporation is reporting weakened sales and lower prices for diamonds sold from its Ekati and Diavik mines.

The Yellowknife-based company released its third-quarter results last week. Diamond sales totalled $145 million US, down from $222.5 million US in the third quarter of 2014. By volume, sales fell to 795,000 carats, or by 31 per cent.

Brooke Clements,pastpresident of the N.W.T.and Nunavut Chamber of Mines and the president of Peregrine Diamonds, an exploration company, said low diamond prices hitthe N.W.T. government where it hurts.

"Right now there's a little bit of a supply glut, at the polished end, and diamond prices are down from where they are last year," he said.

"That will definitely lower the royalty revenue that the Government of Northwest Territories gets under the devolution agreement. I would imagine when they made their budgets last year they were counting on higher diamond prices. So it just affects everybody's ability to do the things they want to do."