De Beers: Uranium's Best Friend?

All around the world, prospective grooms associate the name De Beers with six months salary. But working with Canada's Cameco, the world's most famous name in diamonds is looking for a mineral that's far more common -- uranium:

The Johannesburg, South Africa-based diamond company will allow Cameco to search its Aberdeen Lake property in the eastern Arctic territory of Nunavut for the mineral that is becoming increasingly valuable recently as such nations as China and the United States look to nuclear power to meet rising energy demands. Uranium is used to fuel nuclear power reactors.

The property, where De Beers has been prospecting for diamonds since 1998, consists of 14 mineral permits covering approximately 2,300 square kilometers, some 150 kilometers west of the Baker Lake hamlet, the company said in a release.

''It's the first such agreement that we've searched for uranium,'' spokeswoman Linda Dorrington told AFP. ``We still remain dedicated to exploration and mining of rough diamonds. There's no shift in focus, but we're increasingly aware of the benefits to be derived from partnerships.''

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