Earlier in April, Dia Met said it received a letter from a lawyer acting on behalf of 13 shareholders challenging a written contract between Dia Met, Stewart Blusson and Fipke. The request is outlined in an earlier Dia Met news release.

"Our own legal counsel has been maintained. We expect an opinion in a week or two," said Gerald Prosalendis, manager of investor relations for Dia Met.

Dia Met is BHP's joint-venture partner, with a 29 per cent interest in Canada's first diamond mine, which is now under construction. BHP has a 51 per cent interest, with Fipke and Blusson 10 per cent each in the core zone of the joint venture.

According to Dia Met, the 13 shareholders say Fipke and Blusson should not have received their 10 per cent participating interests in the claims and they should be held to account for and "obliged to return such interests to Dia Met."

Jim Eccott, president of Dia Met, confirmed weeks earlier: "We're looking into their allegations. We have not decided to proceed. It's been put in the hands of legal counsel."

Fipke did not return phone calls placed by News/North.

According to a Dia Met news release, the shareholders state that "Blusson breached certain alleged fiduciary duties by failing to acquire additional mineral claims for the benefit of Dia Met."

Blusson said he had no comment regarding the request by shareholders when contacted by XXXNews/North, but he was aware of it.

The board of directors of Dia Met plans to review the issues.

Dia Met Minerals Ltd. is a Canadian exploration company that pioneered the search for diamonds in the NWT. The Dia Met-BHP Minerals Canada Ltd. joint venture is located in the Lac de Gras area of the NWT.

Fipke spent 10 years tracing diamonds in glacial deposits back to the source kimberlite pipes in the area.

In 1991, Fipke and the BHP minerals exploration team drilled and discovered the first diamond-bearing pipe under Point Lake.