THE DIAMOND PAGE — White Swan Res. lands in Africa

Saskatchewan-based White Swan Resources (WSL-A) has found a new habitat in Sierra Leone, West Africa.

By acquiring an 85% interest in three companies based in the country, the company has secured a 1,668-sq.-km package, prospective for diamonds and gold.

The deal, worth $300,000 at current market prices, calls for White Swan to issue 1 million treasury shares to the vendors. For one year, White Swan will retain the right to buy another 5% of the trio for an additional 160,000 shares.

Of the eight separate licences included in the deal, seven are in Sierra Leone’s diamond fields. According to the country’s Geological Survey, these fields, including the Kono-Koldu, Tongo and Sewa River Valley, have produced more than 60 million carats since 1930.

Most of the diamond licences are alluvial prospects covering a 55-km stretch of the Sewa River channel. They contain an inferred resource of more than 2 million carats with an average density of 0.21 carat per cubic metre of gravel.

The remaining diamond properties have been targeted for their hard-rock potential.

The single gold licence is situated along a greenstone belt with a history of placer gold production.