PurcellMichael Schuss's
Canadian International Minerals Inc. (CIN), unchanged at 5.5 cents on 1,000 shares, has acquired three new diamond properties in Northern Saskatchewan. The new blocks are much smaller than the ground it acquired earlier this year, but they are closer to the heart of the Pikoo area play. The A claims are immediately east of what Mr. Schuss, president and CEO, touts as the "new diamondiferous kimberlite discovery" at Pikoo, while the B and C blocks are within seven kilometres northeast of Pikoo. ("New" is an indefinite measure of time on Howe Street; Grenville Thomas's
North Arrow Minerals Inc. (NAR: $0.60) made the find a year ago.) Mr. Schuss says the region is "underexplored by Canadian standards" and the Saskatchewan diamond hunt became Canadian International's priority promotion in the spring when it acquired interests in the big Reindeer River and Three Amigos projects, on the fringes of the Pikoo area play. Unfortunately, the
company's properties remain underexplored even by Howe Street standards, mainly because Canadian International's current accounts were nearly $250,000 in the red at the end of June and Mr. Schuss has been unable to raise any cash since May, when the company sold 2.5 million shares at eight cents. The Pikoo district caught the attention of Howe Street last fall, when North Arrow hit kimberlite in nine of 10 drill holes. Diamond recoveries from 210 kilograms of PK-150 kimberlite, the best of the finds, suggested a diamond content of 1.3 carats per tonne. Unfortunately, PK-150 is too small to be of current interest and North Arrow is preoccupied elsewhere, so it scheduled just preliminary work for Pikoo. Geophysicists and geochemists are key to diamond discoveries but they are equally effective at snuffing out diamond promotions for the time they consume.