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by Will Purcell

The diamond and specialty minerals stocks box score for Thursday was a weak 65-86-159 as the TSX Venture Exchange fell fractionally to 678. Yes, it is a thin trader, and yes, its chart has been southbound since Ken Johnson's Lipari Mining Ltd. (LML) first traded a board lot two weeks ago. Still, after a two-year wait, at least it is trading. Lipari, which lost one-half cent to 39.5 cents on 2,000 shares today, produced 25,291 carats of diamonds from its Brauna mine in Brazil during its first quarter -- up sharply over a year ago but less than expected.

Mr. Johnson, president and chief executive officer, said the first quarter was "a technically demanding period," as the mine completed its transition from open-pit mining to underground. Lipari said its production was 20 per cent below target because of low productivity of the loading equipment in the underground mine, and because of difficulties encountered in the initial blasting of underground ore, which led to reduced feed to the plant.

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