Karelian Diamond Resources PLC on Monday said it now has official notice of a court date regarding land concessions needed to develop its Lahtojoki diamond mine.

Shares in the Finland-focused exploration and development company were down 14% at 2.02 pence on Monday afternoon in London.

Karelian said the hearing by the Finnish Land Court has been scheduled for May 21, and relates to the development of the Lahtojoki mine in the Kuopio Kaavi region of northern Finland.

The court hearing will aim to finalise the appeals by two Kuopio Kaavi landowners regarding the amount of compensation to be paid to them by Karelian, and to finalise a change to the mind boundary.

Karelian noted that Finland’s mining authority has already approved its mining concession application for the Lahtojoki diamond deposit. The National Land Survey has also conducted the necessary work to determine ground rental compensation due to local landowners, and Karelian has since paid that compensation.

‘Finalisation of land possession for the duration of the mine is a necessary and welcome step forward in relation to the company’s proposed development of the Lahtojoki diamond deposit,’ the company said.

Furthermore, Karelian claimed that the mine’s development ‘will not only bring significant benefits to the company, but also to the entire surrounding Kuopio-Kaavi area.’

It noted that the completed diamond mine is expected to be Europe’s first outside Russia. It also noted that the Lahtojoki deposit contains pink and other coloured diamonds, which ‘are highly sought after and can command prices up to 20 times that of normal colourless gem diamonds’ - although the deposit also contains ‘high quality’ colourless diamonds.

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