DIAMOND DEVELOPMENT – Premier McGuinty visits Victor project

ONTARIO - To celebrate the official beginning of construction of Ontario's first diamond mine, Premier Dalton McGuinty visited DE BEERS CANADA's Victor project this week. The project is located in the James Bay Lowlands, 90 km west of Attawapiskat.

McGuinty attended the groundbreaking ceremony with Rick Bartolucci (Minister of Northern Development and Mines), Chris Bentley (Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities), and David Ramsey (Minister of Natural Resources and Minister Responsible for Aboriginal Affairs).

De Beers was represented by president and CEO Jim Gowans and Jeremy Wyeth, VP of the Victor project.

With production scheduled for fall 2008, Victor will be De Beers' second diamond mine outside Africa. The first will be the Snap Lake mine in the Northwest Territories, with production planned for the fall of 2007. Fact sheets on both projects are posted at www.DeBeersCanada.com.