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by Will Purcell

The diamond and specialty minerals stocks box score for Tuesday was a bleak 56-108-146 as the TSX Venture Exchange fell six points to 558. Terry Tucker's Southstone Minerals Ltd. (SML) was halted midday Friday pending news -- not that one would know it, since the stock was unchanged at one sad cent on 2,000 shares when it last traded two weeks ago.

Southstone has agreed to buy out its co-owners of Singapore-based Padstone Pty. Ltd., which is seeking diamond exploration permits in the Republic of Guinea. Southstone has been holding a 10-per-cent interest in Padstone, but it is now buying the rest of the company for stock. The five co-owners will share 15.5 million Southstone shares in the deal, and they will split a deferred cash payment of $100,000 (U.S.) to be made over the next two years. They may also be reimbursed up to $100,000 (U.S.) for shareholder loans made to Padstone -- loans that must be repaid in 18 months.

In all, Southstone will pay up to $200,000 (U.S.) in cash and $155,000 in stock, which implies that Padstone and its Guinean project is worth roughly $410,000. Southstone, says Mr. Tucker, interim chief executive officer, had been just a passive shareholder of Padstone -- apparently too passive to know much about the company's financial affairs: "There is no factual financial information of Padstone to report at this time," he and his crew concede.

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