DIAMOND PAGE — DIAMOND NEWS ROUNDUP — Arbitration delays Northbank

A dispute over compensation owed to the owner of the Northbank diamond property, operated by Trans Hex International (THI-T) in Namibia, will be taken to arbitration.

The move will delay development of the project until January, when construction of a recovery plant is anticipated to begin. In the meantime, personnel have been moved to the Skeleton Coast project, where evaluation of diamond grade and quality is expected to be completed by February 1999.