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by Will Purcell

The diamond and specialty minerals stocks box score for Wednesday was an upbeat 87-66-157 as the TSX Venture Exchange rose two points to 915. Martin Turenne's FPX Nickel Corp. (FPX), up one-half cent to 36.5 cents on 323,000 shares today, has picked up an option allowing it to earn a 100-per-cent interest in the Advocate nickel project, 20 kilometres southwest of Baie Verte in north-central Newfoundland.

To do so, FPX must make staged payments of $225,000 and spend $2.5-million on exploration over a three-year period to earn an 80-per-cent interest. It must then pay $6-million for the remaining 20 per cent of the project. FPX Nickel has also firmed up a partner for the new project: The Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) has agreed to make the project a part of its alliance with FPX. (JOGMEC can earn a 60-per-cent interest in the project.)

Advocate spans about 8,625 hectares and includes a 45-kilometre strike of serpentinized ultramafic rocks -- igneous rock rich in iron and magnesium that had been metamorphosed by water at low temperatures -- material that the company touts as suitable host rock for awaruite mineralization. So far, three zones of awaruite have been found on the property, with surface sampling assaying at up to 0.14 per cent Davis tube recoverable (DTR) nickel and an area of interest open in all directions.

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