Stornoway Diamond Corporation (TSX-SWY) is pleased to report the discovery of a new kimberlite in the Coronation Gulf/North Slave Diamond District of Nunavut. The Hammer kimberlite was discovered by prospecting on a mineral claim acquired by Stornoway in October 2008 at the head of a previously unexplained kimberlitic indicator mineral anomaly with diamond inclusion chemistry. The Hammer Property is located approximately 500km north of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories (see map at www.stornowaydiamonds.com/Coronation_P1_v2_2.jpg), and is a joint venture between Stornoway (75% and operator) and North Arrow Minerals Inc. (TSXV-NAR; 25% participating).

The Hammer kimberlite appears associated with a prominent topographic feature that is 225m long, between 15 and 100m wide, and has a surface expression of approximately 1 hectare, although the true nature and size of the body is not known at this time. Weathered kimberlite breccia in bedrock was identified within hand dug pits, in addition to numerous scattered kimberlite occurrences of surface float and frost heaved kimberlite fragments. Previous analyses of till samples collected down-ice of the Hammer kimberlite have returned the full suite of traditional kimberlite indictor minerals, including both pyrope and eclogite garnets, and the mineral chemistry of these indicators is indicative of a potentially diamond bearing kimberlitic intrusive.

President and CEO Matt Manson stated, "The discovery of the Hammer kimberlite is a direct result of our team's mandate to pursue opportunistic and cost-efficient grass roots exploration, as outlined in Stornoway's 2009 Exploration Outlook (see press release of January 07, 2009). Hammer was discovered through careful assessment of Stornoway's extensive exploration database, vigilant claim acquisition, and patience. We believe additional kimberlites remain to be discovered at Hammer and its adjacent properties and will be pursuing these opportunities in due course."

Next Steps

Representative samples of surface float and in-situ kimberlite were collected at site and are currently in transit south, although permafrost conditions and equipment constraints prevented the collection of a large sample of fresh kimberlite for representative microdiamond analysis at this time. Stornoway and North Arrow are currently reviewing potential future work required to properly assess the Hammer discovery, which may include additional prospecting, kimberlite sampling for micro diamond recovery, ground geophysical surveys or drilling.

About the Coronation Gulf/North Slave Diamond District

Some 17 kimberlites were previously known to exist in the general Coronation Gulf/North Slave Diamond District, with Stornoway holding variable interests in ten of them. The diamond contents of individual bodies range from barren to highly diamondiferous. The barren bodies tend to be ilmenite dominated (e.g. Kikerk 1, Kikerk 2, Thrift) while those with elevated diamond counts have a more interesting indicator mineral population including pyrope garnet (e.g. Artemisia, Knife, Potentilla). Within the diamondiferous kimberlites, grades (established from a variety of sampling programs by several companies) range from less than 10 carats per hundred tonnes ("cpht"; e.g. Caltha, Perseus) to 10-30cpht (e.g. Artemisia, Knife), with portions of the Anuri pipe reportedly reaching 78cpht. No development work on any kimberlite has taken place to date, although large tonnage sampling programs have been undertaken by De Beers and Rio Tinto (through Kennecott Canada Inc.) at the Knife and Anuri kimberlites respectively.

Acknowledgements

This discovery was made possible in part by the Government of Canada's GEM (GeoMapping for Energy and Minerals) program, specifically the Diamonds Project as delivered federally by the Geological Survey of Canada.

Stornoway Diamond Corporation

Stornoway Diamond Corporation is one of Canada 's leading diamond exploration and development companies, involved in the discovery of over 200 kimberlites in seven Canadian diamond districts. The Company benefits from a diversified diamond property portfolio, a strong financial platform and management and technical teams with experience in each segment of the diamond "pipeline" from exploration to marketing. Stornoway's diamond exploration programs are conducted under the direction of Robin Hopkins , P.Geol. (NT/NU), Vice President, Exploration, a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. Mr Hopkins has read this press release and approves of its contents.

On behalf of the Board
STORNOWAY DIAMOND CORPORATION
/s/ " Matt Manson "
Matt Manson
President and Chief Executive Officer

For more information, please contact Matt Manson (President and CEO) at 416-304-1026
or Nick Thomas (Manager Investor Relations) at 604-983-7754 or toll free at 1-877-331-2232

**  Website:  www.stornowaydiamonds.com  Email: info@stornowaydiamonds.com **

This news release may contain forward looking statements, being statements which are not historical facts, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization, exploration results, resource or reserve estimates, anticipated production or results, sales, revenues, costs, "best-efforts" financings or discussions of future plans and objectives. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove accurate. Such statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those anticipated or projected. Any statements made regarding a NI 43-101 Preliminary Assessment of a project includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the Preliminary Assessment will be realized. References to NI 43-101 Resource Calculations are Mineral Resources and are not Mineral Reserves and therefore do not have demonstrated economic viability. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are in Company documents filed from time to time with the Toronto Stock Exchange and provincial securities regulators, most of which are available at www.sedar.com. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to revise or update such statements.