Karelian raises funds for Finnish diamond hunt

Explorer Karelian Diamond Resources said it had raised 550,000 pounds to develop its diamond assets in Finland, boosting its shares.The group placed 27,500,000 new ordinary shares at 2p per share to raise £550,000 before expenses thanks to demand from existing institutional and retail shareholders.Karelian plans to use the cash to press ahead with ongoing programmes at its various diamond prospects in Finland and for working capital generally.The shares are due to be admitted to AIM and to start trading on January 17th.Chairman Richard Conroy said: "As a result, Karelian is delighted to be in its strongest financial position in the company's history; with this latest placing, the company has raised £2m cumulatively in the last two months."Shares were down 0.1p or nearly 4% at 2.42p during late afternoon trading in London.PW