Dominion Diamond to focus on developing core assets, share buyback

Dominion Diamond Corp said it would focus on developing its core assets in Canada's Northwest Territories and on buying back shares, months after a group of investors urged the diamond miner to take steps to boost its share price.

Dominion also said Chief Financial Officer Ron Cameron would step down on July 15 and Vice President Group Controller Cara Allaway would take over as interim CFO.

An investor group led by hedge fund K2 & Associates said in December that it believed Dominion's share price had "suffered excessively and unnecessarily" as a result of "misguided policies and missed opportunities."

The diamond miner, whose Toronto-listed shares had lost a third of their value in 2015, had said then that it would engage in talks with the group.

Dominion will focus on developing the Sable and Jay projects at its majority-owned Ekati mine and a fourth pipe at its Diavik mine, among other core assets, it said on Wednesday.

Both Diavik and Ekati mine sites are located in the Lac de Gras region of the Northwest Territories.

Dominion is also selling its office building in downtown Toronto. The sale is expected to be completed in the third quarter of fiscal year 2017, the company said.

Reuters reported in December, citing sources, that Dominion was working with Rothschild & Co to find ways to boost shareholder value, including a potential sale.

Dominion's U.S.-listed shares closed at $9.11 on Tuesday.

Up to Tuesday's close, the stock had fallen more than 35 percent in the past 12 months.