High diamond contents from sampling at the Jericho Diamond Mine in Canada indicates that the mine's recoverable diamond grade could increase substantially, Shear Diamonds President Pamela Strand said Tuesday.

A small sample from Jericho turned up 11.3 carats per ton of ore (cpt), and 52 macro diamonds totaling 3.5 carats in weight. The largest stone recovered during sampling weighed 0.54 carats.

Shear Diamonds, which acquired the Jericho Mine in July 2010 from the defunct Tahera Diamond Corporation, conducted a mini-audit to confirm the results of a sample taken by Tahera in 2007 that yielded 1,345 diamonds weighing 58.8 carats.

From 2006-2008, the Jericho Mine produced 780,000 carats of diamonds. According to estimates, the mine can still produce some 375,000 carats of diamonds with a value of C$24.5 billion.