Stornoway Diamond Corporation (SWY:TSX) Shear Minerals Ltd. (SRM:TSXV), and BHP Billiton Diamonds Inc. (BHP Billiton) today announced that the first diamond at surface, a clear, octahedron measuring 0.44x0.40x0.36mm, has been recovered in a 69.8kg sample of pyrope garnet bearing beach sands at the Churchill Diamond Project. The pyrope bearing beach sands were discovered by detailed prospecting, and occur in a narrow higher interest area within the larger Josephine River kimberlite indicator mineral corridor.

Shear, the operator at Churchill, has discovered 17 kimberlites this year (four since the August 30, 2005, press release), before completing its 52-hole 2005 drill program at Churchill. This brings the total number of kimberlites drilled on the property to 39. In addition, two kimberlite outcrops were located in 2005 through ground work and prospecting. The 2005 drill program commenced in April and continued through to the end of September with 4,631m of drilling testing 44 spatially separate geophysical targets.

Ground prospecting was also conducted this year at Churchill within the Josephine River and Sedna kimberlite indicator mineral corridors covering an area in excess of 75 sq km. A total of 30 kimberlite boulders were recovered. These include two occurrences of kimberlite float with visible pyropes and coarse grained macrocrystic olivine textures. Most samples have been sent to be analyzed for indicator mineral chemistry.

Diamond analysis is pending on the four new kimberlites as well as two larger samples collected from kimberlites KD900 and KD209 (where several macro diamonds were previously recovered). About 100kg of kimberlite was also collected for analysis from the second kimberlite outcrop (FF119). Results will be released when received.

The 2005 drill program was based out of a 36-person camp located in the centre of the property at the head of the Josephine River Corridor. The location of the camp facilitated this year's aggressive and cost effective drilling schedule.

The Churchill Diamond Project is comprised of mineral rights to more than 9 million acres located near the community of Rankin Inlet and Chesterfield Inlet in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut. The project is owned by joint venture partners Shear, which has a 51% interest and is the operator, Stornoway (35%) and BHP Billiton (14%). Between 2003 and 2005, Shear and its partners discovered 41 kimberlites over a wide area on the Churchill and Churchill West projects. The 2005 field program is under the supervision of Jennifer Burgess, P. Geol., a Qualified Person under NI 43-101.