VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 01/28/13 -- Mining for Miracles, BC's mining community's longstanding fundraising campaign for BC Children's Hospital Foundation, kicked off 2013 fundraising with the launch of the Diamond Draw at the Mineral Exploration Roundup Conference January 28 in Vancouver.

De Beers Canada Inc. has generously donated a diamond in support of the 2013 Diamond Draw. The diamond is a 1.0 carat ideal square cut De Beers Snap Lake Mine diamond, valued at $17,500. The Diamond Draw package is worth over $22,000, including the diamond, gold and designer setting donated respectively by De Beers, Teck Resources Limited and Andrew Costen of Costen Catbalue. Mining for Miracles thanks these supporters for their generosity.

"Mining for Miracles works closely with BC Children's Hospital Foundation to make donations count. We support research, capital investment and the provision of outstanding health care at the many centres of excellence within BC Children's Hospital," says Jason Weber, 2013 Chair of Mining for Miracles. "Over the past 25 years BC's mining industry has raised more than $20 million for the children and families who visit the hospital, and 100 per cent of the funds raised by Mining for Miracles go directly to the areas of need."

In 2013 Mining for Miracles will be raising funds to support an Institutional Pediatric BioBank at the Child and Family Research Institute at BC Children's Hospital. Biobanking is a new and indispensable research tool that holds the potential to improve treatments and find cures for diseases affecting millions of children around the world. This will be the first Institutional Pediatric BioBank in Canada and will facilitate breakthrough medical discoveries that will improve the lives of children suffering from debilitating and life-limiting diseases.

As in previous years, the success of Mining for Miracles depends on the generosity of individuals and corporations throughout the province. Donations can be made through employee and corporate fundraising initiatives or through fundraising events such as Jeans Day(TM), the Diamond Draw, Slo-Pitch Tournament or the Teck Celebrity Pie Throw, taking place on May 2, 2013.

Visit www.miningformiracles.ca for more information and to donate.

About Mining for Miracles

Since 1988, Mining for Miracles has raised over $20 million for BC Children's Hospital. Every year, volunteers from the mining community work together to help improve the quality of health care for children in our province. One hundred per cent of funds raised through Mining for Miracles go toward specific projects at BC Children's Hospital. Through its support of the construction of facilities and acquisition of specialized medical equipment at the hospital, Mining for Miracles is helping to keep BC Children's Hospital at the forefront of pediatric care excellence. For more information, visit www.miningformiracles.ca.

About BioBanking

In a BioBank, a collection of biological samples is stored in an environment which will preserve them. Scientists who are members of the bank can seek permission to make a withdrawal from the bank and use the samples for research. In the last 40 years the survival rate for children with cancer has increased dramatically from 10 per cent to 78 per cent. This advancement is due to extensive research and the development of new treatments. Similar progress has been made for other pediatric diseases. A BioBank offers researchers a "ready to use" collection of samples which are the basis of their research experiments.