The main factor determining the current state of the diamond market is the global financial crisis. The situation on the leading financial and stock exchanges is still fairly dramatic. The labour markets in the US, Europe and Japan are also not in the best shape. Under these circumstances the availability of credit for diamond market players has declined drastically.
Alexander Matveyev, Member of the Federation Council of the Russian Federal Assembly, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Northern Territories and Indigenous Minorities, Mining Engineer, Academician of the Russian Engineering Academy, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor, worked as Chief of Industry Department of the Yakutsk Region Committee of the CPSU, Chairman of the Yakutia Planning Committee, Vice-President and First Vice-President of ALROSA.
Valery Vladimirovich Rudakov – chairman of the Board of Directors of CJSC Polyus, chairman of the Committee for precious metals and precious stones of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation. In 1999-2002 - Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation and head of the State Repository for Precious Metals.Stornoway Diamond Corporation has discovered a new kimberlite body on the 1.04 million acre Qilalugaq project, situated north of Repulse Bay in Nunavut. The property now hosts 18 kimberlites, including the 14 hectare coalescing Q1-4 bodies, currently the largest known kimberlite in the eastern Arctic, Tacy reported.
Under the terms of an option agreement signed between BHP Billiton Diamonds Inc. and Stornoway, Stornoway can earn a 50 percent interest in the project from BHP Billiton by spending US$8.4 million before December 31, 2012.
An unexpectedly long drill program associated with the ongoing development of a conceptual kimberlite resource at Stornoway’s Aviat project, coupled with other logistical considerations, prevented the drilling of promising geophysical targets on the Qilalugaq property during the 2008 season. Additional work is under consideration for 2009.
"The discovery of another kimberlite body in proximity to the large Q1-4 kimberlite complex, and only some 10 km from tidewater, is encouraging. Q1-4 remains a compelling target for the Company given that 24.5 tons of composite kimberlite samples collected from the outcropping 5.4 hectare Q1 kimberlite in 2006 and 2007 returned a diamond content of 30.5 carats per hundred tons (stones retained on a 0.85mm square mesh screen), including stones of 0.79, 0.59 and 0.37 carats. Stornoway is considering a larger bulk sample to properly characterize the diamond population and provide a preliminary estimate of diamond value,” says Eira Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of Stornoway.
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