The investments that performed best during the finacncial crisis

Cargill, the agricultural giant, is looking beyond America’s Mid-West to keep the world fed as food prices soar

Danny Fortson Published: 15 July 2012

A Nashville farmer shows stricken corn as extreme weather pushes up prices (Seth Perlman)
Across the plains of the American midwest, corn stalks are toppling over — but nobody is scything them down. Continue reading →

A Scottish investor from Fife has proved that diamonds really are a girl’s best friend by unearthing one worth £191,000 from a mining plot in Sierra Leone.

The lady physiotherapist had invested £2,950 in a mining operation run by Capital Mining, and the diamond, along with any others that are discovered, is covered by the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, the international agreement covering the production of and trade in diamonds.

The 8 carat diamond is the biggest so far recovered from the plots in the West African country’s Konta region where Capital has mining rights. The average finds so far have been between 1 and 4 carats.

Investors are entitled to half of the value of the gems found on their plots if they want them sold on the open market or they can opt to take physical delivery.

Capital Mining Chairman, Robert McKendrick said: “Diamonds are proving an investor’s best friend in terms of returns compared with what is available currently with traditional investments.

“The amount of gems discovered so far is more than predicted by the independent surveys or us. If our latest expectations of the number of diamonds we now believe are in the plots are met, investors could make a sparkling return of over 500 per cent”.

But he sounded a note of caution. “We have always advised investors to buy at least two plots as it is quite possible that some of them may not yield any diamonds at all”.

Investors have paid £2,950 each to own the rights to an individual mining area of 225 square feet for two years. They can elect to take any diamonds or gold found in physical form or to sell on the open market and be entitled to 50 per cent of any monies realised. If the area they have purchased is not mined within two years they will get their money back.

-ends-

For further information:

Robert McKendrick, Chairman
Capital Mining
07717 474231
Paul Quade 020 7248 8010
CityRoad Communications 07947 186694

Note to Editors

Capital Mining dug a test pit in the centre of the licence area in March 2009. Results from this pit revealed 69 carats in diamonds that were valued at $66,000.

Extensive geological surveys carried out by internationally respected geologist PK Hall found significant alluvial gold and diamond deposits on the land and initial results are almost double the diamond yields predicted by the surveys.

All diamonds discovered are covered by the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, the international agreement covering the production of and trade in diamonds. All gold and diamonds discovered will be kept in a secure, insured unit.

The investment monies are made up of £1,750 for the mine plus a one-off mining fee of £1,250. The geographical location has been chosen because of the long and successful history of mining in that region since the 1930s.

An innovative farming project backed by British investors aimed at improving health and education as well as production yields in a West African country will reap its first harvest next month.

Investment vehicle African Land, which is considering listing on AIM, has a 50 year lease on 3,000 acres of farmland in Sierra Leone for rice production. The first 300 acres were planted earlier this year and harvesting is now expected to start in September – thanks to seashells.

There was an initial problem with the soil’s acidity. Shipping in limestone would have been too expensive so the company came up with an unusual solution – crushed sea shells which when spread on the land have the same effect as limestone. Continue reading →