The company has received $6-million ($4-million (U.S.)) from the exercise of warrants into 9,999,999 shares priced at 40 U.S. cents per share.
MIL Investments, a private company controlled by Jean-Raymond Boulle,
exercised warrants it had earlier purchased from three institutional
shareholders. Mr. Boulle has advised the company that, as a result of
exercising the warrants, he beneficially owns approximately 27 per cent of DFI’s 51,244,809 outstanding shares, making him DFI’s largest shareholder.
Mr. Boulle was a founder of Diamond Fields Resources, the former parent company of DFI, which was acquired by Inco in 1996 for over $4-billion.
Mr. Boulle, in his role with DFR, originally secured DFI’s core Luderitz asset in Namibia.
The company has already committed to, and financed phase 2 of the advanced sampling program using De Beers Marine as the contractor. Phase 2, scheduled to commence in July, will test the balance of the Marshall Fork feature. With the average sample grade of 1.3 carats per square metre from the company’s recent phase 1 sampling work, and the sale price of $164 (U.S.) per carat, the company believes the feature has the potential to become the most profitable sea diamond deposit known.
The exercise of the warrants represents a large capital infusion into the
company and will allow DFI to continue with further planned sampling to
upgrade and expand the declared resource. The goals for the overall program are to outline sufficient resources to support a multifaceted, long life, very profitable operation capable of producing hundreds of thousands of carats per year.