Rankin Inlet (Feb 09/04) - One hundred and thirty-eight federal prospecting permits have been granted to Shear Minerals Ltd.

The permits cover 6.4 million acres surrounding the Churchill Diamond Project in Nunavut. The core Churchill project encompasses more than 1.5 million acres located near the community of Rankin Inlet in the Kivalliq region, states a news release issued by Shear on Feb. 3.

With the permits granted, Shear has expanded its position in the area by close to 400 per cent, said Norm Eaton,

manager of finance and investor relations with Shear.

"We've proposed a budget of $6 million for the Churchill area (in 2004). It's a preliminary budget and we will be finalizing that over the next few months," he said.

"We're fully funded for next year and with the amount of attention Churchill diamonds are getting, I don't think it will be a problem. We have a lot of options with the Churchill property."

Wait for results

Shear is still waiting for results back on 1,800 till samples from the property which have been sent to the Saskatchewan Research Council. The results, which are expected during the next month, will determine the specifics of Shear's budget and the exploration plays, he said.

"We're still waiting for results back in batches ... It's dependent on the results; what actual direction we take and how much drilling we do," he said.

Stornaway Diamond Corp. and BHP Billiton are partners in the project with 35 per cent and 14 per cent ownership respective.

The west part of the property has been optioned out to International Samuel Exploration Corp.

"They can gain an option of up to 65 per cent by spending $1 million over two years and they've already spent ($500,000) during the first year. They're on their way to earning that option," said Eaton.