North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

Are there diamonds buried in Minnesota? The head of the University of Minnesota's geological survey says the science of diamond exploration has improved dramatically in recent years - and Minnesota is favorable ground.

University geologists and an Australian mining company last fall quietly crisscrossed Minnesota, searching the soil for clues that might lead them to stores of precious minerals - including diamonds.

But whether the precious stones are anywhere to be found won't be known for awhile. The university signed a rare secrecy deal that will keep the most sensitive research under wraps until 2007. There was scattered diamond exploration in central Minnesota 20 years ago - but it failed to find a mother lode.