U of A new diamond exploration course An urgency to find diamond deposits in Canada has led to a new diamond exploration training school starting this fall at the University of Alberta.
The graduate program, in partnership with the University of British Columbia, received funding of more than $1.6 million over the next six years from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.
Two of three operating Canadian diamond mines are in the last half of their lifespans, so there’s a need to train more highly qualified diamond explorers to keep production at current levels, said Graham Pearson, principal investigator of the Diamond Exploration Research and Training School or DERTS.
“There may be another 10 years of production left, but if you look at the time scale it takes to find and develop a diamond mine, it could be between 10 and 15 years,” Pearson said.
Canada is the world’s third biggest diamond producer by value.
“We really do need to find some more mines if that production is going to be sustained at that level in another 10 years time.”
DERTS launches this September, with 15 fully-funded students and eight faculty members from the U of A and two from UBC. Research areas include kimberlite volcanology, geochronology, geophysics modelling, remote sensing and experimental mineralogy and petrology.
The program collaborates with 10 partners in the diamond industry, including De Beers, Diavik Mines and Dominion Diamond Ekati Corp. Students participate in eight-week internships with industry.
Pearson said he and his colleagues are recruiting students with undergraduate degrees, including geology or geophysics, who are academically strong but are also treasure hunters by nature.
“It’s a huge intellectual and practical challenge in finding any mineral deposits, and particularly diamond deposits. We’re looking to get people who are really interested in that sort of challenge.”
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