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by Will Purcell

The diamond and specialty minerals stocks box score for Monday was a mediocre 71-99-140 as the TSX Venture Exchange lost five points to 546. Ewan Mason and George Read's Star Diamond Corp. (DIAM) lost one-half cent to 8.5 cents on 532,000 shares. This is the last week of March -- and a shortened one at that -- the month in which the company expects to close its separation agreement with Rio Tinto Exploration Canada Inc. (RTEC) regarding the Fort a la Corne project in central Saskatchewan.

While Star has struggled with its predictions on finalizing the agreement before, Mr. Mason, chairman, president and chief executive officer, is still hoping to close the deal this week, as "round after round after round with the lawyers" appears to be nearing an end. The "physical manifestation of handing the project over is mind boggling," Mr. Mason says, pointing to the untold dozens of documents that had to be finalized and signed.

For better or worse, Star Diamond has kept gaggles of lawyers busy for the past several years, and they do not come cheap. "That's what the $4-million is for," says Mr. Mason -- referring to the cash payment that Star Diamond gets as part of the separation agreement, and the continuing document production. (Star Diamond spent over $2.2-million on professional fees back in 2020, when the legal spat with RTEC began, and it spent $3-million more the following year as the fight continued in and out of court.)

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