Toronto: Very small diamonds have been discovered in Manitoba, a first for the province, says a Winnipeg geologist. Ruth Bezys, president of the Manitoba Prospectors and Developers Association based in Winnipeg, says an informal consortium made up of Manitoba and Alberta prospectors discovered the precious gemstones in the north-eastern part of the province.

Their discovery was announced at this year’s Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference held in Toronto. They were found near Knee Lake and measure less than a millimetre in size.

Knee Lake is a large lake on the Hayes River, 600 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg and downstream from Bunibonibee Cree Nation and Oxford Lake. This is the first publicly reported discovery of diamonds in the province, Bezys said.