Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jun 23/99) - Tahera Corp., the company resulting from the union of Lytton Minerals and New Indigo Resources, is now well-positioned to advance the Jericho diamond project, according to company president Glenn Laing.

"The company has now completed a most difficult period," Laing said in the 1998 Lytton Minerals annual report. The amalgamation was to have occurred in the first half of 1998, but legal and ownership issues temporarily postponed the union.

Laing also said, "The company has been able to consolidate its mineral property position, establish its own exploration and technical capacity, acquire the necessary diamond laboratory facilities and discover additional kimberlites.

"We are now positioned to carry out Tahera's strategic objective of becoming an integrated diamond exploration, development and mining company focused on developing the Jericho project."

Soon after the amalgamation was complete and a new board of directors had been installed, Tahera filed a project description with regulatory authorities for its Jericho diamond property.

The Jericho diamond property, located in Nunavut, is 170 kilometres east of Ekati.

The filing marks the start of the environmental assessment and regulatory process for the proposed diamond mine.

The project calls for open-pit mining of one diamond-bearing kimberlite pipe with processing to occur at Echo Bay's Lupin mine site.

The proposed mine could be in operation by late 2001.

Processing at Lupin, and the fact that the kimberlite pipe is land-based, are big advantages, Tahera said.