DIAMOND PAGE — Vaaldiam left in the lurch

Toronto-based Antares Mining & Exploration (ANZ-T) will not proceed with a previously announced financing with Vaaldiam Resources (VRL-A) that would have set the stage for a merger between the two companies.

The deal was scrapped after Antares failed to raise the required capital by Dec. 31, 1998.

The agreement called for Antares to buy 416,667 Vaaldiam shares at 36 cents each and subscribe to convertible debenture financings worth a total of $850,000.

The total value of the aborted deal was $1 million, which Vaaldiam was to have spent on mining a 50,000-tonne gravel bulk sample at the Vetpan diamond project, west of Johannesburg, South Africa. The property is held by Mountain Province Mining (MOA-V). A 6,000-tonne bulk sample taken by another operator in 1994 yielded 99.71 carats, which were sold for an average of US$493 per carat.

However, Mountain Lake recently terminated Vaaldiam’s right to earn a half-interest in its Vetpan property, and in its Mooi River diamond property, also in South Africa.