Stornoway Reports an Initial Diamond Content of 150 cpht from Renard 3 Including a 7.8 Carat Stone

Stornoway Diamond Corporation (TSX-SWY) is pleased to provide initial diamond recovery results from its 10,000 tonne bulk sample program at its Renard Project in north-central Qu�bec, a 50:50 joint venture with SOQUEM INC. ("SOQUEM").  A total of 624 carats of diamonds have been recovered from a combined dry sample weight of 417 tonnes from Renard 3, yielding a recovered diamond content of 150 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht).  Diamond recovery via x-ray sorter has been completed for three underground samples from Renard 3, with individual results reported below. These results include the recovery of 7.78 and 6.09 carat stones, representing the two largest diamonds discovered in Qu�bec to date.

*Based on diamond recovery using a 1.2mm by 13.0mm slotted screen

**The estimated diamond content, expressed as carats per hundred tonnes, may not be representative of the overall diamond content of the body due to a number of factors, including the location and size of the underground samples

***Carats per hundred tonnes

CEO Eira Thomas stated, "The first diamond recovery results from Renard have exceeded our expectations.  The cumulative recovered diamond content at Renard 3 is 18% higher than previous large scale sampling, and we are encouraged by both the size and quality of the diamonds that have been returned."

The five largest diamonds recovered are 7.78, 6.09, 5.00, 4.19 and 4.13 carats. These stones are described as a near-gem clivage, a colourless gem octahedron, a colourless macle, a light off-colour gem octahedron and a top light brown gem octahedron, respectively.

Click here to see picture

The largest diamond is in the bottom right, and starting here and going clockwise from this stone we have: 7.78 carat near-gem clivage 5.00 carat colourless macle 4.19 carat light off colour gem octohedron 4.13 carat top light brown octahedron 6.09 carat colourless gem octahedron

A total of 1,927 tonnes of kimberlite from the Renard 3 body have now been processed at the 10 tonne per hour (10 tph) Dense Media Separation (DMS) plant located at the Renard Project site. A further 559 tonnes have also been processed from Renard 2, and 142 tonnes from Renard 4. Stornoway anticipates that a total of some 6,000 tonnes of kimberlite will have been processed through the DMS plant by the end of the second quarter, comprising approximately 2,000 tonnes from each of Renard 2, 3 and 4.  Final diamond recovery is expected to be completed within the third quarter with a full market valuation following thereafter.  Stornoway expects to release diamond recovery results on a batched basis as they become available.

Comparative Historical Data

Between 2004 and 2005, Stornoway's wholly owned subsidiary Ashton Mining of Canada Inc. ("Ashton") and its JV partner SOQUEM collected a 146 tonne mini-bulk sample from Renard 3 by reverse circulation drilling that yielded a recovered diamond content of 126 cpht (Ashton press release of January 26, 2005).  The largest diamond recovered during that program was a colourless 4.30 carat octahedron.

Historical diamond recovery results now reported from Renard 3 are as follows:

*Reported by Ashton Mining of Canada Inc.

**The estimated diamond content, expressed as carats per hundred tonnes, may not be representative of the overall diamond content of the body due to a number of factors, including the location and size of the samples or drill holes

***Carats per hundred tonnes

**** DMS processing reported herein utilized a 1.2mm by 13.0mm slotted screen

Scientific and Technical Data

Diamond results reported in this release are based on sample processing by a 10 tph DMS plant owned by Stornoway (through Ashton) and SOQUEM in joint venture, and operated by Stornoway, and on the recovery of diamonds from concentrate at Stornoway's wholly owned and operated mineralogical laboratory in North Vancouver, British Columbia.  Quality assurance protocols and actual operating procedures for the processing, transport and recovery of diamonds under the Renard bulk sample program, including arms-length security provisions, conform to industry standard Chain of Custody provisions and are subject to the review of AMEC Americas Ltd. who have been contracted to provide third party accreditation for program data.  

The three individual 2007 samples (3002, 3006 and 3008, as reported above) were collected by underground decline close to the center of the Renard 3 kimberlite pipe, 55m below surface at the 455m level.  The Renard bodies contain internal complexities and recovered diamond content from individual samples does not conform to the definition of a "mineral resource" grade established by National Instrument 43-101. Stornoway is in the process of establishing detailed geological models for each of the Renard kimberlites as part of a formal NI 43-101 compliant resource calculation.  As a component of this work, individual geologic units observable within the pipes will be reconciled with diamond recovery information. 

For the Renard bulk sample program, individual kimberlite samples are prepared through a primary jaw crusher prior to introduction to the 10 tph DMS. To facilitate production of a heavy mineral concentrate, -20mm material is fed directly into the DMS and +20mm material is reduced through a secondary cone crusher set at 10mm. DMS coarse reject "floats" are re-crushed to -6mm and re-circulated through the DMS.  During the processing of these first three Renard samples a bottom cut-off utilizing a 1.2mm by 13.0mm slotted screen was employed.  Following delivery to North Vancouver, the resultant DMS concentrate was then processed twice through x-ray sorter equipment to generate a final concentrate which was hand sorted to extract diamonds. A grease table finish will be used to audit all x-ray sorter rejects.  As part of Stornoway's ongoing QA/QC program, DMS tails, concentrate residues and other materials are also subject to audit.  The recovery data reported above constitutes diamonds from the x-ray sorter circuit only, and does not include diamonds recovered by grease table or by other audit streams. Any significant changes to the recovered diamond grades provided above will be reported when available.  The Renard bulk sample program is managed by Dave Skelton, P.Geol., Senior Project Manager. Stornoway's diamond exploration programs are conducted under the direction of Robin Hopkins P.Geol, Vice President, Exploration, a Qualified Person under NI 43-101.

Stornoway Diamond Corporation

Stornoway Diamond Corporation is one of Canada's leading diamond exploration and development companies, involved in the discovery of over 150 kimberlites in six Canadian diamond districts. The Company benefits from a diversified diamond property portfolio, a strong financial platform and management and technical teams with experience in each segment of the diamond "pipeline" from exploration to marketing.

SOQUEM INC.

SOQUEM is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SGF Min�ral inc., a subsidiary of the Soci�t� g�n�rale de financement du Qu�bec ("SGF"). The mission of the SGF, an industrial and financial holding company, is to undertake economic development projects in the industrial sector in cooperation with partners and in compliance with the economic development policies of the Government of Quebec.

On behalf of the Board
STORNOWAY DIAMOND CORPORATION
/s/ "Eira Thomas"
Eira Thomas
Chief Executive Officer

This news release may contain forward looking statements, being statements which are not historical facts, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization, exploration results, resource or reserve estimates, anticipated production or results, sales, revenues, costs, "best-efforts" financings or discussions of future plans and objectives.  There can be no assurance that such statements will prove accurate.  Such statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those anticipated or projected.  Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are in Company documents filed from time to time with the Toronto Stock Exchange and provincial securities regulators, most of which are available at www.sedar.com.  The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to revise or update such statements.