Frank Smeenk's KWG Resources Inc. (KWG) gained one-half cent to 2.5 cents on 28,000 shares. KWG, a player in Canada's diamond hunt for over 20 years, plans to sever its last link to gems. The company intends to sell all 144.63 million shares of its sister company, Debut Diamonds Inc. (DDI: $0.01), either privately or through the Canadian Securities Exchange. Mr. Smeenk, KWG's president and chief executive officer, did not say why he wants to sell off the stock but the motive was probably financial. KWG had a modest working capital deficiency at the end of September, and the sale could realize over $700,000 that the company could put toward either its chromite prospect in the Ring of Fire district of Northern Ontario, or its plan to build a railroad connecting the chromite district to the existing railway line.

Mr. Smeenk's personal connection to diamonds will nevertheless continue. He is managing director of Debut Diamonds. The company, a 2011 spinoff from KWG, acquired all the latter company's diamond projects in Northern Ontario, including the majority interest in the MacFadyen project, just north of De Beers Canada's Victor diamond mine in the Attawapiskat region. KWG completed small mini-bulk tests of several pipes on MacFadyen and although the tests were too small to be meaningful, an enthusiastic promoter could wave his hands sufficiently to support a story likening the pipes with Victor. Of course, Debut would eventually have to prove the point by completing a bulk sample large enough to get a diamond valuation.