DIAMONDS — Nora to boost stake in Namibian venture

A $2-million private placement will enable Nora Exploration (NXI-M) to boost to 60% its interest in the Namibian gemstones concession, the second-largest offshore marine diamond concession in southern Africa.

To do so, the company, which currently has a 40% stake in the property, plans to spend about half the proceeds of the financing and issue 1.1 million shares. About $600,000 will be deposited in trust with Quebec’s Superior Court pending the outcome of a dispute between the company and Hartor Investments, whereas $470,000 will be retained as working capital.

Hartor’s lawsuit against Nora relates to a dispute about the terms and conditions of a loan agreement between the companies. Nora has filed a counterclaim for damages of $1.7 million. Hartor President Peter Bond resigned from Nora’s board in late August.

Meanwhile in Namibia, the company is preparing to carry out more geophysical work of targeted areas, which will be followed up by low-cost dredging and bulk sampling.

Nora’s Namibian Gemstones project comprises a block of 23 contiguous deep-water concessions measuring about 23,000 sq. km, extending from the Namibian-South African border northward along the outer edge of the continental shelf and on the continental slope. The southern portion adjoins producing concessions that provide most of the marine diamonds mined by a unit of De Beers Consolidated Mines.