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NUNAVUT
Shear Diamonds, which bought Nunavut's first and only diamond mine last year, has entered into an alliance with a Belgian company, Tache, that will give Shear needed debt financing and give Tache access to the diamonds stockpiled at the Jericho mine, a press release said.

Under the deal, Shear will receive a US$2-million one-year loan from Tache, repayable once Shear starts receiving proceeds from the sale of stockpiled diamonds, and a US$3-million line of credit once the company starts shipping diamonds from its existing stockpiles.

Both companies will share in the net profits of Tache's sales of rough and polished stones.

"The debt provides us with the capital required to begin processing our recovery stockpiles in the near term," Shear CEO Julie Lassonde said in the release, "as well as long term support in the form of a marketing agreement that has Shear participating in profits on the sales of both the rough and, more importantly, the polished stones."

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