The Contact mini-bulk test did prove the area to have diamond potential -- as do constant reminders from RJK Explorations Ltd. (RJX: $0.035) about the 800-carat Nipissing yellow diamond that turned up in a farmer's field near Cobalt 120 years ago. The allure of the mammoth diamond and the promotability of the 95-2 sample results suggest that Mr. Branson and Weekapaug have reason to hunt kimberlite on their property.
Even if they do, the prospect of Timiskaming diamonds will be a tough sell to investors these days. Fortunately, Aster is more likely to find signatures -- and Weekapaug is far more likely to find promotability -- chasing silver and cobalt targets. The Cobalt area, remember, produced close to 500 million ounces of silver during the 20th Century, accompanied by enough cobalt to have the locals name their town after that metal, not silver. (Yes, there is a community called Silver Centre, about 25 kilometres southeast of Cobalt, but it is a ghost town.)