MOUNTAIN PROVINCE – DIAMOND – CANADA
Mountain Province Diamonds said it had recovered a 25.13 carat gem quality diamond which it said is the largest gem quality diamond ever recovered from a Canadian diamond exploration drill program, polishedprices.com reported.
The company described the stone as “excellent, shape and clarity and good colour.” It said the stone had been independently valued at approximately $17,500 per carat, putting the diamond value at approximately $440,000.
Mountain Province Diamonds (49%) is a joint venture partner with De Beers Canada (51%) in the Gahcho Kue Project.

DAMAS – IPO – SHARES
Jewelry retailer Damas on Wednesday announced the pricing of 270 million shares in its initial public offering (IPO) at $1 per share, fetching $270.6 million (AED 993 million.), RAPAPORT reported.
The price was derived via a book building exercise.
The Damas group operates in 18 countries, with 438 stores around the world as at December 31, 2007, and has an extensive retail network with stores primarily located in the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and North Africa.
Taufiq Abdullah, Damas chairman, said, "We have seen a strong response to the offer and are pleased to have secured support for our investment proposition from such a wide range of respected institutions both in the Gulf and in Europe.
"We look forward to working closely with our new institutional shareholders and welcoming eventual retail shareholders who will be able to trade Damas' shares once we are listed."
The shares will be listed on the DIFX. Damas expects trading to commence on or about July 8.
"Upon listing, Damas is expected to be the first retailer to be listed on the DIFX," the company said in a statement.
The base offering comprises 270,583,370 ordinary shares.

PARAMOUNT – GHANA DIAMOND PROJECT – ACQUISITION
Mining Weekly reports that diamond exploration company Paramount Mining Corporation has expanded its presence in Ghana. The company announced that it has acquired an equity stake of up to 85% in the Pramkese diamond and gold project.
According to Paramount’s agreement with Leo Shield Exploration, Paramount will undertake a diamond-exploration program at the Pramkese project, situated in the renowned Birim diamond field.
Paramount has agreed to undertake a detailed exploration program with the aim of confirming the potential discovered in past test work. The agreement states that the company can earn the 85% equity stake in three stages. During the first stage of up to a year, Paramount will issue Leo Shield Exploration 500,000 ordinary shares in Paramount and it will pay a $15,000 option fee.
The agreement states that Paramount will also be required to commit a minimum of $50,000 expenditure on the project and meet all statutory costs on the maintenance of the tenement. If all these stipulations are met, it will have the rights to diamonds, gold and other minerals recovered at the location.

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