Shear Minerals Ltd. Announced it has entered into a Purchase and Sale Agreement with Tahera Diamond Corp and Benachee Resources Inc to acquire a 100% interest in the Jericho Diamond Mine and processing facilities.

The Jericho Diamond Mine is located in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut, Canada.

Jericho is Nunavut’s first and only diamond mine. It is located 420 km northeast of the City of Yellowknife and is accessible by air all year and by winter road from Yellowknife.

The project became operational in 2006 and has so far produced 780,000 carats of diamonds from 1.2 million tons of kimberlite mined from the open pit operation.

According to the diamond miner's press release, over $200 million was invested in the development of the Jericho operations including the construction of a 2,000 tons per day diamond recovery plant, maintenance facility, fuel farm, and offices and accommodation for 225 personnel.

“The acquisition of the Jericho diamond mine, presently on temporarily closure, in conjunction with the planned financing, transforms Shear into a leader in Northern Canada diamond exploration with near term development potential,” says Shear President and CEO Pamela Strand.

“We look forward to implementing an aggressive two year exploration business plan with the goal of increasing the historical resource base beyond historic levels and completing a new economic assessment of the project in late 2011 with the goal of re-opening the mine.”