Northern Manitoba newest diamond hot spot

The hunt for diamonds is undergoing a reawakening in Manitoba, four years after the first wave of explorers failed to locate kimberlite.

The province's far north has attracted interest from De Beers Canada, which has collected exploration licenses for almost 5 million acres, giving the gem giant the largest rights holding in the province.

But the world's most famous diamond company doesn't have things to itself.

Stornoway Diamond has picked up two sites in northeastern Manitoba, while a partnership of BHP Billiton and Nustar Resources is drilling kimberlite prospects west of Churchill.

Nustar has a list of more than 20 targets on its properties.

It also identified an additional 10 on surrounding property, but was beaten to the exploration licenses by De Beers, which now occupies 75 percent of the land adjacent to Nustar's claims.

In the past six months more diamond permits have been issued than in the previous five years. Officials with the Manitoba government say the geology gives hope that a kimberlite will be found, given that diamonds have been found in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Nunavut, which adjoin Manitoba.