PROFILE (June 15, 1992)

Canada’s mining industry is poised to enter its diamond phase, say those who have a stake in the Lac de Gras region, from which a bulk sample yielded gem-quality stones last month. The stock market reflects this optimism as the share value of the region’s key players rose sharply in recent weeks. TSE-listed SouthernEra Resources, for one, shot up to the recent level of $2 from 1 cents in March when the company was reactivated from dormancy by President Christopher Jennings and his three partners.

“With rocks 2.5 million years old, Canada offers the best prospect and is the most prospective country for diamonds,” says Jennings. “A lot of diamonds had been found while miners panned for gold just south of the Great Lakes. The stones must have been moved by the glaciers from Canada.” The diamond hunt quickens a largely unpopulated and undeveloped area to life. Should a discovery be proven economic, says Jennings, a new town will spring up, and Yellowknife, the nearest metropolis, “will be the supply centre.” He, therefore, does not foresee any major problems involved in the permitting processes. “The people in the north want tax revenue and jobs. Besides, diamond mining is environmentally friendly.”

Now both Canadian citizens, Jennings and his wife, Jeanne, hail from South Africa. He earned four degrees, including a Ph.D. in geology in 1974, from Natal University in Durban. In the 1970s, he worked for Falconbridge Explorations and was based in Johannesburg, in charge of the company’s interests in Africa.

Jennings was involved in the discovery of more than 66 kimberlite pipes in Botswana and a few in South Africa. “Several of the pipes are likely to be economic,” he says.

In 1980 when he explored for diamonds in the Northwest Territories for Falconbridge Ltd. and Superior Oil, Charles Fipke was the contract sampler. Later that year, Falconbridge transferred Jennings to Canada as assistant vice-president of exploration for programs worldwide. His team was responsible for the discovery and startup of the Lac Shortt gold mine in Quebec. Other finds include a number of kimberlite pipes in the U.S. and British Columbia.

In January, 1984, Jennings joined BP Canada and helped discover the Chetwynd (Hope Brook) gold deposit in Newfoundland.

Four years later he joined Corona Corp., with which Jennings stayed until last October. In 1990 he was appointed president and chief executive officer of Corona’s 49% owned Repadre Capital Corp., which has optioned more than six million acres for diamond exploration in Botswana.

As for SouthernEra, Jennings has an aggressive program. “If we find a potential kimberlite, drilling may start as early as August.” The company plans to explore other areas in Canada for diamonds.

Will the diamond fever spread? “Currently, a lot of geologists are unemployed,” he says. “More than 1,000 geologists have suddenly started to gain knowledge in diamond geology. They will make proposals. The hunt started at Lac de Gras but it will spread to all provinces. I expect several diamond deposits will be discovered in the next five years.”