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Gold/Mining/Energy : ASHTON MINING OF CANADA (ACA) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: gordon m. who wrote (3316)	1/4/1998 2:30:00 PM
From: Michael M. Cubrilo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7966

Also in the Calgary Herald on Saturday <eom>

To: gordon m. who wrote (3316)	1/4/1998 6:02:00 PM
From: Harold Reardon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7966

Would Jesse or anyone please post the following on S.I. My money has been sent by priority post and should reach them any day. Thanks. The following article comes from today's Sunday edition (Jan. 4) of the Edmonton Journal and was written by Stephen Ewart of the Calgary Herald. Diamonds turn up trumps in Alberta Energy oil search Alberta Energy Co. may have stumbled upon a diamond in the rough in its own backyard. Nobody is calling Alberta Energy's president "Diamond" Gwyn Morgan just yet, but that may change if a foray into diamond exploration pans out. Alberta Energy was looking for oil in the Buffalo Hills area, near Lesser Slave Lake in northern Alberta, when it discovered geological anomalies that indicated the possibility of diamonds. "It's something we're watching wide-eyed with interest, "Morgan says. "It could be a major new diamond area." Alberta is already on the verge of becoming one of the world's hottest new diamond plays, says California mining analyst John Kaiser. Canada's first diamond mine is due to start production in the Northwest Territories in October and others are expected to follow. The Alberta Geological Survey completed a three-year study of the province in 1996 and was bullish on the prospects for commercial diamond deposits/ While the idea of diamond mines sprouting in the midst of Canada'ss oilpatch, rather than a far-off country like South Africa, may seem unlikely, it doesn't shock Kaiser: "Hey, carbon is carbon" he says, only half-laughing at the basic chemical similarities between diamonds (crystallized carbon) and oil and natural gas (hydrocarbons). Morgan is reluctant to talk about Alberta Energy's diamond foray. He says the Calgary company's core business will always be oild and gas. But that hasn't stopped the company from securing mineral rights to 28.3 million acres in north-central Alberta in a partnership with Pure Gold Minerals Inc. and Ashton Mining of Canada Inc. Ashton, a Vancouver-based company, is conducting the exploration. It has identified hundreds of kimberlite pipes - a cocoon of sorts where diamonds develop - in Alberta. One round of drilling took place last summer and was encouraging enough that a new round begins this month. "What they've got so far is not going to be the best they wiull find," Kaiser predicts. "They only drilled the easiest targets." The companies have committed about $350,000 to the project. "Our investment is extremely small compared with a very high potential upside," says Morgan.