TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Two TSX-V-listed diamond explorers on Thursday reported that they had formed a partnership to look for diamonds in a promising area of the Northwest Territories.

Canterra Minerals – which had been involved in the discovery of two of Canada's four diamond mines, including the Snap Lake mine, in the Southern Slave, and the Ekati mine, in Lac de Gras – had given Margaret Lake Diamonds the right to acquire up to 49% of its Marlin property, located to the north and west of Kennady Diamonds’ exploration project and west of Margaret Lake's eponymous property.

Canada’s next diamond mine, De Beers Canada and Mountain Province Diamonds’ Gahcho Kué project is also located in close proximity to the east.

The Marlin property comprises 23 mineral claims covering about 26 000 ha.

Under the terms of the option agreement, Margaret Lake would have the right to earn 30% in the Marlin property by making staged cash payments of $80 000, of which it had already paid $20 000, issuing 300 000 common shares and incurring $1-million in exploration expenditures over a two-year period. If the company chose to continue with the option agreement, it could earn another 19% interest in the property by paying $20 000 and incurring $750 000 more in exploration expenditures by the end of the third year.

Canterra would remain the operator and the initial exploration programme, which would consist of basal till sampling, was expected to start immediately.

After Margaret Lake had earned either 30% or 49% of the project, Canterra would form a joint venture with it to continue exploring and developing the Marlin property.

The deal was pending regulatory approval and the completion of definitive documentation.

"This option agreement with Margaret Lake creates an opportunity between two companies that hold contiguous properties to the Gaucho Kue [sic] and Kennady Diamonds projects and share a similar geological environment. With the proximal nature of our land packages, the synergies of data collection and analysis, plus the additional capital to advance the Marlin property expeditiously, we are delighted with this partnership and look forward to a mutually successful outcome,” Canterra president and CEO Randy Turner commented.