Diamond Cap Share Discussion Threads

[energyi] 02/3/2005 08:45

KELSEY LAKE

Diamond Discovery
The eighth largest diamond ever found in North America was recently discovered in Colorado. According to Lynn Bronikowski in the Rocky Mountain News, the 14.2-carat diamond was found at Kelsey Lake, northwest of Fort Collins near the Wyoming border in the Laramie Range.
This mine is the only commercial diamond mine in the United States, and it will not be fully operational until about 1997, when the owner, Redaurum, Inc., of Toronto, Ontario, expects to produce about 150,000 carats per year. Most of the production will be small, non-gem-quality material for abrasives in tools such as drill bits and rock saws.

The only other outcrop of diamond-bearing rock in the US is at Murfreesboro, Arkansas, which is a State Park where visitors can hunt for their own diamonds. Diamonds have also been found for years in the loose gravels and sediments that were deposited by glaciers, especially in the Midwest and northeastern United States. Most of these diamonds were derived from rocks somewhere in Canada, possibly beneath what is now Hudson Bay, but some may have come from sources in northern Wisconsin.

The Laramie Range rocks that contain diamonds date to the Precambrian Eon, a very ancient period of Earth history. They are from the Proterozoic Era, and these rocks are about 1,700,000,000 (1.7 billion) years old. This location is quite near the contact with an even older terrane to the north, the 2.5-billion-year-old Wyoming Province. Possibly the occurrence of diamonds is related to this contact.

Russia and South Africa produce by far most of the world's diamonds, but there is an exciting diamond exploration play in progress in northwestern Canada, which employs magnetic surveying to find the cylindrical kimberlite pipes that contain the diamonds. For more information on the Canadian diamond play, visit the Northwest Territories Diamond Page.

UPDATE: THE FIFTH LARGEST diamond found in North America was discovered at the Kelsey Lake mine in late summer, 1996. The 28.3-carat yellow stone is about three-quarters of an inch long and is valued at at least $56,000 and perhaps as much as $283,000. It is to be offered for sale in late September, 1996.

@:

[energyi] 02/3/2005 08:38

US DIAMOND EXPLORATION - Where to start:

INTEGRATED DIAMOND EXPLORATION IN THE NORTH-CENTRAL UNITED STATES:
APPLICATION OF DEGIS TECHNOLOGY (Memmi & Pride)
Abstract - by Doug Pride

Discovery of diamondiferous kimberlite in northwestern Canada, and occurrences of similar intrusions and alluvial diamonds elsewhere, suggest North America is fertile ground for economic primary diamond deposits. Using a Diamond Exploration Geoscientific Information System (DEGIS) to develop an exploration model, we have identified four areas of permissive terrain in the north-central United States: Wisconsin-Upper Peninsula of Michigan, southeastern Wyoming, North Dakota-Minnesota, and northwestern Iowa. Permissive areas feature lithosphere that is >1.6 billion years old and 150 km thick; and prospective zones within this terrain contain point and linear features that are associated with kimberlite and lamproite emplacement.

@:

[energyi] 02/3/2005 08:28

GOLD STANDARD- Not just Gold

Gold Standard, Inc. was formed in 1972, by present management.
The Company was established as a public company through the issuance of a Utah intrastate public offering and commenced exploration activities for gold in the state of Utah. By the end of 1973, management had leased through numerous landowners the majority of the claims comprising the old gold mining district of Mercur, Utah which had recorded a production record of one million ounces of gold between the years 1893 to 1911. Gold Standard subsequently formed a joint venture agreement with Getty Oil Company for the development of the properties. Within a year, Getty Oil recorded drill-indicated reserves of 1.3 million ounces of gold on the property, and then formalized an agreement with Gold Standard, Inc. Getty Oil then shelved the deposit for the next 6 years, but finally built a mine, mill complex and poured its first gold in April 1983. Texaco acquired Getty Oil Company, but did not recognize the spirit of the agreement that Getty Oil had made with Gold Standard. As a result, in 1986, Gold Standard initiated a lawsuit against Getty/Texaco. After a seven-week trial, the jury awarded Gold Standard $406 million in actual and punitive damages. However, the judge reversed the jury's findings and ruled in favor of Getty/Texaco, which was upheld by the Utah Supreme Court.
. . .
Prospects for the Future: Over the past several years, many mining companies ceased their exploration programs, due to the weak price of gold and the challenges faced in raising exploration captial. Gold Standard struggled as well, but we were able to maintain an active exploration program in Brazil during this period through strong cost cutting measures. Today, the price of gold is up and investors are once again turning to gold as a valuable investment. Gold Standard offers investors a rare opportunity to participate in the investigation and development of highly mineralized properties in regions known to be rich in gold and other valuable minerals.

GOLD STANDARD, INC.
712 Kearns BuildingSalt Lake City, Utah 84101
Tele: [phone] Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]

Gold Standard Minas, S.A.
Brazilian Exploration: Nilton Franke
[e-mail]

@:

- - -
GSTD, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, is one of those little miners that has sizable geological parcels all over the place, some cash in the bank, a moderate accumulated deficit, and a tad of a book value. Hardly any production sales, just hopes of developing the properties. Here we must confess our partiality to the junior producers who always seem to have these "promising" properties tucked away in some forsaken corner of the earth (usually untouched by shopping malls). It qualifies as one of our stock selections we like to call "Pennies from Heaven."

The company filed suit against Getty Oil, Texaco, and American Barrick Resources in 1986 over a joint-venture partnership in the worldclass Mercur Mine, Utah, that went sour. GSTD, original discoverer of the mine, claimed breaches of joint-venture obligations, failure to provide a proper feasibility study, and fraud. The fraud case finally came to trial against Getty Oil in July 1993. Texaco conducted Getty's defense, owning 100% of Getty Mining Company stock. It was a case of David versus not one, but two Goliaths. After a seven week trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Gold Standard in the amount of $404,164,000 (yes, you read that right). It was the highest amount ever awarded by a jury in the State of Utah.

Originally organized to conduct
exploration and acquisition
activities in Uruguay, GSTD now
has significant properties there,
as well as in Utah and Brazil.








Six days later the judge "usurped the role of the jury" in the case, and granted the defendants motion for a directed verdict claiming fraud had not been proven by Gold Standard. This decision effectively overturned the jury's positive verdict even though each jury member was required to complete a detailed special verdict form consisting of questions designed to verify that all components of fraud were clear and convincing. Finally, after ten years of litigation, the last appeal by GSTD was denied, and the entire situation ended when the Utah Supreme Court denied a Motion for Reconsideration. Needless to say, shareholders were as angry as the townsfolk in "Frankenstein," and with similar good reason.

At the bad news in January 1996, the stock fell from over $5 to a buck. It crashed in a price chart pattern eerily repeated recently by Bre-X after the Busang imbroglio. After Gold Standard crashed, it roiled around a bit, and spent the rest of '96 at just about one dollar. It came off the floor to challenge the $2 level briefly, and has since sunk back to around a buck.

Originally organized to conduct exploration and acquisition activities in Uruguay, GSTD now has significant properties there, as well as in Utah and Brazil. The company has so much territory in Brazil, that a Brazilian subsidiary has been formed, with over two million acres of applied-for mining claims covering both gold and diamonds.

@:

[energyi] 02/3/2005 08:16

DIAMOND FEVER

Canada in 1998 is where Wyoming wants to be in the not-too-distant future.
In the early '90s, rich deposits of diamonds were discovered at a pair of remote sites in the Northwest Territories. Two mining consortiums are now spending a total of $1.8 billion to begin extracting diamonds from the Ekati Mine, which will commence operation this fall, and the Diavik Mine, expected to be ready for production by 2002. (There are only 21 other working diamond mines in the world.) By some estimates, Canada has the potential to become the fourth-largest supplier of diamonds in just a few years' time. But northern Canada has almost run out of unstaked ground, so future North American explorations are going to have to look south.

Colorado can't boast such an enormous bonanza-in-the-making, but in a sense it possesses something better: the Kelsey Lake Mine, home of the first and only successful diamond-producing lode in U.S. history. Since it was brought into production in 1996, the modestly sized yet lucrative mine has already disgorged tens of thousands of diamonds, including a 5.4-carat gem that fetched $90,000 and a 17-carat monster recently sold at auction. The buyer was anonymous, the price undisclosed, but the minimum bid was set at $300,000.

That the Kelsey Lake Mine is only 25 miles south of Laramie, just over the Wyoming-Colorado state line, has rendered it all the more tantalizing to a growing stampede of geology-minded Wyomingites. They've also been keeping an eye on the Canadian carpetbaggers who have taken to hopping from one patch of Wyoming blueground (that's kimberlite in mining vernacular) to another in search of the next Ekati or Diavik.

Now, like the perennial bridesmaid who waits impatiently for her own glinting solitaire, Wyoming is in the mood for its piece of the rock. Rumor, surmise, and whispered tales of sure-thing claims are circulating via sagebrush telegraph, and diamond fever is spreading like Canada thistle across the Big Wonderful. It's madness, of course - except that one of the clearest heads in the state is quietly telling citizens that the long-awaited payout is just around the corner.

It's a hot summer day, and I'm bumping along a dirt road in the Iron Mountain section of Wyoming's Laramie Range, dodging rattlesnakes in a pickup truck with Dan Hausel, age 49, the senior economic geologist for the Wyoming State Geological Survey. He wants to show me a kimberlite complex he's particularly enthusiastic about. We've got the windows down, and suddenly the dry sound of an annoyed rattler echoes in the cab. Hausel, who has a bad left ear and has trouble pinpointing where the sound is coming from, goes into a mild panic, surveying the floorboards for snakes before stepping hard on the brake pedal and shifting the truck into reverse. We bounce backward 10 yards or so until the sound caroming around the cab intensifies. To Hausel's relief, we spot the coiled diamondback out there alongside the road.

I'm quickly discovering that this is about as excited as Hausel gets, even though, as Wyoming's chief lobbyist for a vision of the future bright with gem bonanzas, you might expect him to offer up loud hype. Instead, the Utah native brings an even, considered tone to his argument that Wyoming is as diamondiferous - to use the technical term - as any place on earth.

The truck stops, and Hausel ascends a steep, gully-braided hillside of blueground like a mountain goat. "Notice how the grass is taller on the kimberlite," he observes. "And no trees. Trees generally don't grow on the pipes."

He gestures at the ridge around us. "I've been telling people for a long time that somebody should pick up these Iron Mountain kimberlites," he tells me. "It's crazy they're just sitting here."

In fact, Hausel says, this whole region possesses an embarrassment of latent riches. All around us is the Wyoming Craton, the continental puzzle piece supporting Wyoming, a good deal of Montana, and small parts of Utah, Idaho, Nevada, and Colorado. In recent years, geologists have mapped more than 100 kimberlite pipes on the craton, close to 80 of them in Wyoming itself.

OK, but where are the diamonds?

Hausel's reply blends mild boosterism with a gospel of delayed gratification. "The Wyoming Craton has by far the highest potential for discovery of commercial diamond deposits of anywhere in the United States," he asserts, "but we're still in the infant stage of exploration." Even though Colorado hit pay dirt first, only a fraction of that state lies on the Wyoming Craton. Nearly all of Wyoming does. Furthermore, explains Hausel, exploration is quite painstaking; the more kimberlite, the more work. "One site might be diamondiferous and one might not be. You have to sample every one of them individually."

But in the next breath Hausel seems to be rebelling against his own predilections. "Most geologists are pessimists," he declares ruefully. "They'll say, 'If the diamonds are here, how come somebody hasn't found them?' What they ought to do is require geologists to take psychology courses taught by prospectors. Every prospector thinks, 'Just dig a little deeper.' Not geologists."

Hausel sorts through a pile of kimberlite samples the size of paperweights. "Here," he says, handing me a weathered chunk of blue rock. "Take your wife a diamond."

@:

[energyi] 02/3/2005 07:52

David M. Abbott, Jr.
(Denver, Colorado)
*Minerals, Coal and Petroleum Geology*Resources and Reserves Definitions and Delineation*Natural Resources Securities Disclosures*Litigation*Professional Ethics*

David M. Abbott, Jr., is an AIPG Certified Professional Geologist, an AAPG Certified Petroleum Geologist, a Geological Society Chartered Geologist, and a licensed Professional Geologist in Wyoming. He spent 21 years as a geologist for the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission reviewing natural resource disclosure issues and investigating the natural resource aspects of securities frauds. His due diligence experience is worldwide and covers all types of mineral and petroleum deposits. Since becoming a consultant in 1996, Abbott has continued specializing in reserve audits and litigation support. He has extensive experience as an expert witness. David assisted in drafting the SEC disclosure standards and the mineral reserve and mineral resource definitions of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, & Exploration. Abbott holds an A.B. honors degree in Earth Sciences from Dartmouth College and an MS in Geology from the Colorado School of Mines. His professional society memberships include: Fellow of the Geological Society (London); the Society of Economic Geologists; the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy; the Geological Society of America; the American Association of Petroleum Geologists; the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration; the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America; the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists; and the Denver Regional Exploration Geologists Society. He received the Martin Van Couvering Memorial Award from AIPG in 1998 for his service to AIPG, particularly in the area of professional ethics. Abbott has written a number of papers on the interaction between geology and the securities laws, on mineral reserve and mineral resource definitions and their application to various types of deposits, and on geologic professional ethics and practices. He compiles a monthly column titled "Professional Ethics & Practice" for the American Institute of Professional Geologists' publication The Professional Geologist.

@:

[energyi] 02/3/2005 07:38

Dr. Murray has previously published books on forensic geology but Evidence from the Earth combines the case studies, the history, the basic geologic principles, the collection of appropriate samples, and the examination techniques used by forensic geologists in a single volume that provides useful guidance to both geologists and the public alike. As Murray notes in his first chapter, "Forensic geology is based on the principle, first stated by French criminologist Edmond Locard (1877-1966), that any time two objects touch, there is a transfer. You may not be able to detect it, it may be worn or washed away, but the transfer has taken place. So whatever people touch and whatever touches them leaves a trace. If you can find that trace, you can say where a person has been and possibly even what crime he or she has committed. Forensic geologists are interested in rocks, minerals, fossils, soils, and glass or other man-made materials or objects that have become incorporated in soil. Forensic geologists take samples of earth materials that have been transferred between objects and analyze them to determine their origins and sources. They then present the results as evidence in either criminal or civil legal proceedings."

As suggested by the preceding quotation, the bulk of Evidence from the Earth focuses on the analysis of soils, sands, rocks, and materials that are made from geologic sources, like the fire-proofing in safes, cement, bricks, and plaster, collected in connection with various crimes. This focus reflects both the most commonly recognized use of forensic geology and Murray's experiences. Throughout the book, Murray includes summaries of cases using the geologic materials involved: murders, kidnappings, rapes, assaults, cactus and fossil rustling from federal lands, and the substitution of rocks for shipments of valuable commodities like gold bullion.

Once chapter touches on mining and oil and gas frauds (to which I contributed), and on gem and mineral enhancement and fraud. The Bre-X gold salting case is summarized with some unfortunately misleading points that are in Murray's cited information source. In the gem section, Murray notes that some gem enhancement such as heating to improve the color of sapphires has become generally accepted while other enhancements, substitutions, etc. are fraudulent.

"Forensic" is defined in my dictionaries as relating to or used in legal proceedings or courts of law. Unfortunately for a book on forensic geology whose goal is to "introduce you to the world of evidence locked in earth materials," Murray fails to mention the most common varieties of geologic evidence in the legal system, the evidence and testimony regarding engineering geologic studies, hydrology, mineral property valuation, and other areas where "ordinary" geologic evidence and interpretations are critical to some aspect of regulatory proceedings or civil or criminal cases. Presentation of this type of geologic expert opinion is the focus of the expert witness short courses offered by AIPG and other professional societies and related publications. Such legal actions constitute for many of us with at least a portion of our practice, me included. But this is perhaps a minor quibble.

Murray provides an excellent introduction for those interested how geologic and related manmade materials provide critical evidence in various types of legal cases. For professional geologists, the chapter on the "Origin and Distribution of Earth Materials" can be skimmed for the included case histories. For others, such as attorneys interested in employing geologic evidence, this chapter provides an important introduction. Murray has included numerous references that will direct those interested to more detailed discussions of specific points. If forensic geology interests you at all, Evidence from the Earth is worth reading. Those of you teaching introductory earth science courses can find short case histories providing answers to the questions "Who cares about what type of igneous rock or soil this is?" and "What's the use of all this?," and may wish to include Evidence from the Earth in a supplemental reading list.

[energyi] 02/3/2005 07:36

THERE ARE DIAMONDS in the Western States
"The Wyoming Craton: the area covered by Wyoming, (and small) parts of Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and southern Montana. ... After reviewing all the U.S. areas, Hausel concludes, "Using only the number of anomalies identified, the Colorado-Wyoming kimberlite province stands out as a potentially important diamond province ... one of the highest priority regions for diamond exploration in North America"

...but be careful...

THE GREAT DIAMOND HOAX
(Salted with cut diamonds? Those were less sophisticated times.
One needs to be alert to more modern promotional tricks)

Sack of Gems Made Fools Out of Many
Will Bagley ... Date: 08/06/2000?

Around 1870, two ragged prospectors made an odd deposit of "precious gems" at an assay office in San Francisco. The miners quickly vanished, but the hoard they left behind triggered a financial frenzy that generated the equivalent of $3 billion in capital investment. Even before the strike could be verified, men made fortunes investing in an astonishing rumor that "blossomed into a craze of speculation worthy of the Arabian Nights."

The prospectors, John Slack and Philip Arnold, were Kentucky cousins whose 19th-century economic wonder rivaled the Internet. Historian Peter DeLafosse has noted the parallels between today's cyber-excitement and the fiscal furor generated when Arnold and Slack arrived in San Francisco with their sack of diamonds, rubies, emeralds, amethysts, garnets and spinels.



The gems came to the attention of William Ralston, president of the Bank of California and the Bill Gates of his time. He tracked down the prospectors in Wyoming and tried to all but swindle them out of control of their discovery. Slack and Arnold agreed to take Ralston's scout to their secret site. Four days' ride south of Fort Bridger, they removed the blindfold from the banker's agent and showed him where they had dug diamonds and rubies out of anthills.

The "discovery" came in the wake of diamond finds in South Africa. Charles Tiffany certified that one sack of these Rocky Mountain gemstones would be worth "a rajah's ransom." Ralston and his syndicate, which included an agent of the Rothschild's and former Union general and presidential candidate George B. McClellan, invested $10 million to move the world's diamond capital from Amsterdam to San Francisco.

Like the Internet with its promise of easy riches, the diamond craze of 1872 created and destroyed fortunes long before anyone figured out if there was any real money to be made. The Kentucky prospectors walked away with some $600,000 (worth $8 million in today's dollars) for rights to their find.

Soon after, geologist and explorer Clarence King deduced the location of the purported diamond fields near Brown's Hole, the remote spot where Utah and Colorado meet Wyoming. At the site, King noted that the only anthills containing the precise 4-1 ratio of rubies to diamonds were those surrounded by boot tracks.? The mines were "salted" frauds. Private investigators learned that Slack and Arnold had bought $35,000 in low-grade diamonds in London. Some of the sample gems were cut diamonds. Instead of being remembered as one of the most spectacular mineral discoveries of all time, the scam is now called the Great Diamond Hoax.

The deceit probably inspired the names of Utah's Diamond Mountain and Diamond Gulch, located close by the purported mines. Ironically, brilliant crystals found five miles south of Eureka, Utah, sparked a boomtown named Diamond in 1870, and may have inspired the entire con.

Some say Slack disappeared. Others maintain he made coffins in New Mexico during his last days. Arnold returned to Kentucky to live in splendor, but ultimately coughed up $150,000 to pay off angry investors. Arnold lost a gunfight in 1878 and died of pneumonia. Ralston, the financial genius who sparked the great excitement, lost his job in 1875 following a run on his bank. He took a swim in the San Francisco Bay and didn't come back.

Source:

#2:
In 1872 two weatherbeaten prospectors, Philip Arnold and John Slack, came out of the mountains and presented themselves to William Ralston, president of the Bank of California in San Francisco. They showed him a bag of diamonds which they had collected at some remote spot in the West. They came at a psychological time, for a speculative madness had taken over San Francisco after the opening of the Comstock Lode. Every day brought disclosures of new mineral deposits in the West--of gold, silver, and the baser metals. The Kimberley diamond fields had been opened in South Africa only a few years before. Could there not be similar deposits in western North America? Ralston, a great plunger and speculator who had made a fortune in the Comstock mines, was greatly excited, and made up his mind to gain control of the new diamond deposit.
...MORE:

= = = = =
LINKS:

Kennecott Exploration:
Tom McCandless.......:
Wyoming Craton.......:
Hausel's Adventure...:
Jones/ Mantle Studies: :
Geology Mag Online...:
Rappaport News.......:

[jimtad] 05/5/2003 19:21

src="http://images.animfactory.com/animations/people_m_z/students/boy_math_md_wht.gif" alt="boy_math_md_wht.gif"

[sparticus2002] 05/5/2003 18:36

Date : April 4, 2003

Caldera Resources Enters Joint Venture With Chief Executive of Harry Winston Inc, New York's Leading Jeweller, On Gold Mine In Sierra Leone.

Caldera Resources – remember the name – is in the process of pulling off a deal described by its president Chris Reindler as 'a company maker'. So far investors do not appear to have noticed and this reaction can be excused, to an extent, by the fact that Caldera is listed in Canada but has all its operations and management in Australia. It therefore falls between two stools. Australian investors would appreciate its array of joint ventures in diamonds and base metals with major players were it not listed in Canada. And Canadians would warm to it more if these operations were nearer home. The deal in Sierra Leone, however, has a flavour that few can resist.

The essence of the deal is that Caldera has signed a latter of intent to acquire up to a 75 per cent interest in the Baomahun gold project in Sierra Leone from Ronald Winston. Ronald Winston is not just any old rock tapper who has returned to a project in Sierra Leone now that peace has been restored to the country. He is president and chief executive of Harry Winston Inc, the international diamond and jewellery company headquartered in New York and is the third generation of his family to run the company. He is a successful businessman in his own right and has brought new vision to the Harry Winston empire since taking up the reins in 1978 by expanding into Tokyo and Los Angeles. One of his longer term aims is to sell jewellery of which the provenance of gold and diamonds can be traced back to mines in which he has an involvement. And Sierra Leone is prolific in both gold and diamonds...

The Boamahun gold project lies at the southern end of the Sula-Kangari Archaean greenstone belt which is the biggest in Sierra Leone and lies only 175 kms east of the capital, Freetown. Betwen 1930 and the late 50s a lot of artisanal working took place on the belt around Boamahun, but no formal exploration was undertaken. More recently the Sierra Leone Geological Survey and previous owners of the licence carried out mapping gnad geological sampling programmes which identified three strong anomalies known as the East, Central and West Zones. Some drilling was also carried out which hit intercepts of 39 metres grading 5.61 g/t gold, 40 metres of 9.82 g/t and 53 metres of 7.07 g/t in different holes close to surface. However these holes were only identified by map reference rather than GPS at the time and will probably have to be re-drilled to conform with current reporting requirements.

Even so the US$5 million spent by Ronald Winston before he had to leave the country in 1994 when the rebels turned nasty led to an estimate of a probable reserve of 383,700 tonnes grading an average of 7.8 g/t for 96,224 ounces and an indicated resource of 499,000 tonnes at 14.2 g/t for a total of 227,812 ounces plus an inferred resource of over 2 million tonnes at 9.2 g/t gold to give 595,132 ounces. It has to be accepted, therefore, that the project is at an advanced stage and these reserve/resource estimates were based only on parts of the three main Zones. Most of it, in fact, came from the East Zone where Ronald Winston had a 350 metre adit driven so that 24 underground holes could be drilled and samples taken for metallurgical testwork. These holes totalled around 2,000 metres and the resulting metallurgical report suggested that recovery could be 90 per cent or better.

In fact the Central and West Zones have hardly been explored at all apart from some drilling by the SLGS, but artisanal operations confirm that they are every bit as mineralised as the East Zone. In addition there is the Victoria licence to the north on which no work has been reported and the Pujehun area 4 kms north west of the village of Boamahun. The first gold to be found in the region was in streams draining this area and since then gold mineralisation has been found in outcrop at two locations in a structural setting similar to that at Baomahun. Gold mineralisation there is hosted within a folded and sheared interbedded unit of iron formation and mica schists and occurs within disseminated and massive sulphides and as free gold associated with quartz veining.

The deal is a four stage option and joint venture. The first stage allows Caldera to carry out due diligence of all existing data and to reinterpret it using modern techniques. The second stage involves all the work such as drilling metallurgy, plant design and environmental study which will take the project to a bankable feasibility study. Both Caldera and Robert Winston are sure they have a 3 to 4 million ounce deposit on their hands which can be developed into a significant mine. Funding should not be a problem and this could be the start of a mutually beneficial relationship as Winston originally made contact with Caldera over diamonds in Australia where it is in joint ventures with BHP Billiton and Southern Era.


WEBSITE


March 04, 2002
Caldera Resources Inc.
Number of shares outstanding- 45,886,796
52 Week High/Low- $0.16-$0.06

[sparticus2002] 05/5/2003 18:20

Spring 2000

Star of Sierra Leonne Auctioned By Sotheby's
Another important diamond was auctioned by Sotheby's: the 30.15 carat "Star of Sierra Leone". The D color VVS1 emerald cut diamond, mounted in a traditional Harry Winston platinum setting flanked by tapered baguettes, sold for 1.8 million.

Harry Winston purchased the original rough diamond at a silent bid auction held by DeBeers in London and then sent it touring around the world, donating the proceeds to charity.

[sparticus2002] 05/5/2003 18:07

TIMELINE, excerpts...

House of Harry Winston
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1890:
Jacob Winston opens his first shop in Manhattan, in USA

1896:
The birth of Harry Winston in New York.
...
1930:
Winston buys a 39-carat emerald-cut diamond ; at that time the largest diamond ever to come on the market in the United States.
...
1947:
For the first time, Harry Winston lends jewellery to be worn on Oscar night in Hollywood. Katherine Hepburn sports the famous Inquisition Necklace.
...
1958:
Harry Winston donates the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. It is a gift to the American people. The firm creates the Nur Ul Ain tiara for the marriage of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi Aryamihr, Shah of Iran, to Shambanou Farah of Iran.
From the Maharaja of Nawanagar, Winston acquires seventeen exceptional emeralds weighing 256 carats. The largest, weighing 68.12 carats, dates back to Sultan Abdul Ahmid II. Winston also buys the tiara of the Duke of Westminster, complete with the famous Ascot diamonds, paying $308,000 for the treasure.

...
1966:
Winston acquires a 241-carat uncut diamond. From it the Winston design studio produces a 61.42-carat pear-shaped jewel, an exceptional stone that will belong first to Mrs Paul Annenberg Ames before being acquired by Richard Burton for Elizabeth Taylor. The gem is now known as the Taylor-Burton Diamond.

1972:
Purchases the third largest diamond ever found : the Sierra Leone, weighing 970 carats. After a year of study, the rough diamond is finally cut into seventeen gems, at a total weight of 238.43 carats. The raw stone is cleaved, as the world watches on television. The State of Sierra Leone issues a postage stamp commemorating the event, which makes Harry Winston the only jeweller ever to see his name published on a stamp.

1975:
Against the unanimous advice of experts, Harry Winston decides to retouch the emerald-cut 143-carat diamond derived from the huge Sierra Leone stone. The table containing imperfections is re-cut into six marquise and pear-shaped diamonds, five of which are D-Flawless (21 carats). The value of the re-cut diamonds is greater than the original 143-carat stone. Once more, Harry Winston has proved his genius in the domain of fine gems.

1978:
Harry Winston dies in New York. His son Ronald takes control of the firm.
...
1990:
Harry Winston Beverly Hills moves to Rodeo Drive.
The centenary of the Harry Winston firm prompts Ronald Winston to create the Centennial Tiara. It comprises seven fancy coloured diamonds weighing 100 carats : « 100 carats for 100 years ».
The « Ultimate Timepiece » collection presents the « Biretrograde Perpetual Calendar », which positions the House of Harry Winston as an innovator in the hallowed Swiss tradition of complicated horology.

1991:
Winston creates Galatea, the only watch in the world to be made of solid rhodium (a metal in the platinum group).
...
1997:
Inauguration, on September 20th, of the Harry Winston Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. The Hope Diamond is the centrepiece. This makes Harry Winston the only jewellery company ever to have a museum gallery named in its honor.

1999:
Gwyneth Paltrow wears a Harry Winston Princess necklace to accept her Academy Award and catapults the firm's classic design to the forefront of international fashion.
The "Biretrograde" appears, a world première complication with retrograde seconds and days of the week.
A unique jewellery piece: the "Lady Pink" which required eighteen months to create provides a glamorous transitions to the year 2000.

2000:
A historic year for the world, and for the House, with the opening of a new Grand Salon on the Ginza, Tokyo's equivalent of Fifth Avenue.
Ronald Winston arranges for the 40.70 Carat Dresden Green, the largest and finest natural green diamond in the world, to be exhibited in the Harry Winston Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution, alongside its "sister", the Hope Diamond. At the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., he is the first person to hold the two gems in the palm of his hand, forever cancelling the supposed curse of the Hope.
The firm also introduces the « Biretrosecond » : the first timepiece with retrograde seconds displayed on two subsidiary dials.

2001:
Harry Winston embarks on an unprecedented creative mission, Opus One, with François-Paul Journe "Invenit et fecit". Eighteen unique complicated timepieces will result from their shared adventure.
...
Entire Timeline:

[sparticus2002] 05/5/2003 17:59

STAR OF SIERRA LEONE
At 970 carats, the is the third largest rough diamond ever discovered. It was found on February 14, 1972, at the Diminco Mine in Sierra Leone.
Harry Winston purchased the Star of Sierra Leone the same year. He had it cut into 17 stones: 13 were flawless.
Originally the largest stone was 143.20 carats of fine colour, but flawed. After several weeks of careful deliberation he ordered it to be recut.
The largest stone recovered from The Star of Sierra Leone rough was a flawless pear-shaped of 53.96 carats.
The rough had been studied for more than a year by Lazare Kaplan, the famous cutter. It was cleaved in front of all American TV. From that day, every one knew about the "Sierra Leone."
To commemorate the event, the President of Sierra Leone had a triangular stamp designed on which we can read:


"SIERRA LEONE - "The Star of Sierra Leone" - Harry Winston"

[sparticus2002] 05/5/2003 17:53

Found this on another thread...

Sierra Leone has its share of these:

Top Twenty Diamonds in the World
## Name............... Carats Discovery/ Where
01 Cullinan.......... 3,106.8 1905 South Africa
02 Excelsior........... 995.2 1893 South Africa
03 Star of Sierra Leone 968.8 1972 Sierra Leone
04 Zale................ 890.0 1984 Africa
05 Great Mogul......... 787.5 1650 India
06 Woyie River......... 770.0 1945 Sierra Leone
07 Presidente Vargas... 726.6 1938 Brazil
08 Jonker.............. 726.0 1934 South Africa
09 Reitz............... 650.8 1895 South Africa
10 Unnamed............. 620.1 1984 South Africa
11 Cullinan I.......... 530.2 ???? British Crown Jewels
12 Incomparable........ 407.5 Diamond Dealer, U.S.A.
13 Cullinan II......... 317.4 ???? British Crown Jewels
14 Great Mogul......... 280.0 ???? Unknown Location
15 Nizam............... 277.0 Private Collection, India
16 Great Table......... 250.0 Unknown Location
17 Indien.............. 250.0 Unknown Location
18 Jubilee............. 245.4 Private Collection, France
19 DeBeers............. 234.5 Private Collection, India
20 RedCross............ 205.0 Unknown Location

LINK:

[energyi] 05/5/2003 16:02

Harry Winston Unveils
International Collection of Rare Jewels
for the 1998 Academy Awards

Titanic star and Oscar nominee, Gloria Stuart,
first to view $200,000,000 display

(New York, New York, February 25, 1998) Oscar nominee, Gloria Stuart, enjoyed a special preview of the Harry Winston International Collection of Rare Jewels created for the 1998 Academy Awards. A veritable treasure trove of the world's finest colored diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds and pearls were on display for Ms. Stuart. Valued at over $200,000,000, this breathtaking collection certainly rivaled the jewels forever lost aboard the Titanic.

This unique assemblage was brought in from Winston vaults around the world and includes such spectacular creations as a $20,000,000 diamond and emerald suite (choker, earrings, and 61 carat emerald ring), an exquisite 220 carat fancy yellow and white diamond necklace, and superlative colored diamonds, ranging from the most delicate pastels to the deepest tones.

Many of the jewels in the collection were inspired by this year's Oscar nominated films -- chunky diamond bracelets that evoke the flashy glamour of LA Confidential, whimsical heart shaped diamonds that capture the sweet romance of Good Will Hunting, and a majestic Edwardian style choker that could have easily graced the throat of a millionaire's wife aboard the Titanic.

Each year, in its role as "Jeweler to the Stars", Harry Winston adorns Hollywood's most glamorous leading ladies -- and men -- with their extraordinary Rare Jewels of the World for the most special night in Hollywood, the Academy Awards. Through a unique arrangement between Ronald Winston and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, nominees and presenters are personally invited to the Harry Winston salons to view the collection and select spectacular jewels to borrow for Oscar night.
:LINK:

[energyi] 07/4/2003 16:53

Just a TEST.

Here's the LINK to thread #1:

[blackdeath] 07/12/2002 21:57

What was wrong with Diamond Thread #1?