Doing so will clear out a strip of the mine; as you dig, make sure you're looking for diamonds in the ceiling and floor as well.
You'll repeat this process until your whole main tunnel has been expanded, then dig further and repeat as necessary.
Make sure to dig around the ores in case there's lava. Sometime ores will have lava behind it. If you find lava behind the ore, use non-flammable blocks to stop the flow of lava.