First Kimberlite Outcrop Discovered at Churchill: Sample recovers over 2,000 indicator minerals immediately down ice in North Corridor

07/11/2005

Stornoway Diamond Corporation (SWY:TSX), Shear Minerals Ltd. (SRM:TSXV), and BHP Billiton Diamonds Inc. (BHP Billiton) announced today the discovery of the first kimberlite outcrop at the Churchill Diamond Project. The outcrop is located up-ice from a till sample taken in 2004 which contains high counts of kimberlite indicator minerals. In addition, kimberlite boulders have now been recovered from a total of six separate locations during this summer season and prospecting of anomalous sample sites continues.

Ground prospecting by Jennifer Burgess, Project Geologist, led to the discovery of the kimberlite and abundant float. The exposure shows a contact trending north-south and initial interpretation is this may be a dyke-like kimberlite although the width cannot be determined at present. This location is less than 10m up ice of a highly anomalous 2004 till sample located within the North Corridor, approximately 15km northeast of the main Josephine River Corridor. The 2004 till sample yielded high kimberlite indicator mineral counts; a high proportion of which were recovered in the coarser fraction and exhibited primary surface textures suggestive of a proximal source. Approximately 150kg of kimberlite has been collected from two locations and will be processed for diamonds and indicator minerals.

The 2004 till sample returned more than 580 coarse grains (greater than 0.5mm) and greater than 7,000 finer grains (0.5mm-0.25mm) in the picking. Many of the coarse grained indicator minerals display primary surface textures with some agglomerates. The suite of indicator minerals includes pyrope garnets, ecolgitic garnets, chrome diospide, olivine, picroilmenite and chromite. Microprobe analysis of the indicator minerals confirmed a total of 190 pyropes, predominately G9 pyropes with two G10 garnets. 

This kimberlite as well as several geophysical anomalies of interest proximal to the anomalous sample will be followed up on the ground during this season with sampling, prospecting and ground geophysics.

The Churchill Diamond Project is comprised of mineral rights to more than 9 million acres located near the community of Rankin Inlet and Chesterfield Inlet in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut. The project is owned by joint venture partners Shear, which has a 51% interest and is the operator, Stornoway (35%) and BHP Billiton (14%). Since 2003, Shear and its partners have discovered 33 kimberlites over a wide area on the Churchill and Churchill West projects. The 2005 field program is under the supervision of Jennifer Burgess, P. Geol., a Qualified Person under NI 43-101.

On behalf of the Board
STORNOWAY DIAMOND CORPORATION
/s/ "Eira Thomas"
Eira Thomas
President