Those familiar with the diamond industry know that few mineral discoveries can reap larger fortunes than an economic diamond mine.

A case in point is the Ekati diamond mine discovered in the Northwest Territories in 1991. Dia Met Minerals, which had a 29 per cent stake in the project that would become Ekati, saw its shares soar from $0.65 to $65.00 in the 18 months following the discovery.

Dia Met eventually sold its interest in Ekati for $800 million in 2001. To give you a sense of how lucrative the mine has been, consider that, despite having a capex of $900 million and being located in the Canadian barren lands, it paid back that total in just 18 months.

The discovery of Ekati set off a diamond rush that would put Canada on the map as a diamond destination.

But as analysts pore over the world’s current and future diamond production, it’s projected that demand will grow faster than supply. A recent Bain report forecasts that demand will grow by 4% annually while rough diamond production will only grow by 1% or less.

Clearly, more diamond mines need to be found to meet demand, but where will they come from?… CLICK for the full article

Paul Rejczak weighs in on a downtrending S&P 500, and gives his take on where it’s headed next.

The U.S. stock market indexes lost between 0.6 percent and 1.2 percent on Wednesday, extending their short-term downtrend, as investor sentiment worsened. The S&P 500 index got very close to the level of 2,800 before bouncing off that support level. It currently trades 1.9 percent below the January’s 26th record high of 2,872.87. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.6 percent and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.2 percent on Wednesday…. CLICK for complete article