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 Nowdluk Aqpik displays a sapphire found on he and his brother's claim in the Kimmirut region of Baffin Island. - photo courtesy of Kyra Fisher |
True North Gems acquired 2,482 acres of land after sapphires were found on the property.
"We are very pleased about this acquisition because the sapphires recovered from the properties are naturally deep, pure blue with purple overtones and as such represent a rare type of occurrence," said Bernie Gaboury, president and COO of True North Gems.
Gaboury said the discovery is very close to Kimmirut, providing good access to the local community.
"We were alerted to the discovery by Paul Gertzbein of the Nunavut Government. They wanted to spin the property off to a company that could develop the colored gem stones," said Gaboury.
"As soon as I saw some of the samples I was interested," he said.
Seemeega and Nowdluk Aqpik are the two prospectors who made the original discovery.
Seemeega explained that his brother was four-wheeling with his wife back in the late summer of 1998 when he saw something blue.
"He went back and there it was, a blue sapphire," said Seemeega.
Some of the sapphires are large in size.
"So far the biggest is about 2 1/2 inches long and about one-half inch wide," said Seemeega.
A third prospector, Chris Lloyd, is also part of the deal on another claim, just south of the original. Lloyd says his claim, owned in partnership with Seemeega Aqpik, is also showing garnets, spinels and sapphires.
The deal with True North Gems calls for $70,000 to be paid to the prospectors and 50,000 shares issued over four years. In addition, True North has agreed to spend $125,000 on exploration and development over four years.
