Chidliak diamond valuation released
Sample yields US$215,605 value
Daron Letts
Northern News Services
Published Monday, March 3, 2014
NUNAVUT
Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. released results of an independent diamond valuation from its CH-6 kimberlite pipe at its 748,000-hectare Chidliak Project, 120 kilometres from Iqaluit, last week.
These eight diamonds were part of the CH-6 kimberlite bulk sample, batch C, taken last year from Peregrine Diamond Ltd.'s Chidlaik Project site, located 120 kilometres from Iqaluit. The largest stone weighs 8.87 carats, the smallest is 0.22 carats. Graded Feb. 2014 - photo courtesy of Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. |
A 1,013.5-carat parcel of commercial-sized diamonds recovered from the CH-6 pipe, the site's most advanced kimberlite, yielded a total value of US$215,605. The modelled price ranged from US$162 to US$236 per carat, with a base modelled price of US$188 per carat.
The prices were calculated using statistical methods that predict the recovery rate and price of each size class of diamonds in potential future run of mine production.
The valuation was monitored by Jennifer Pell, Peregrine's chief geoscientist.
The more than 404-tonne bulk sample from which the sample was taken achieved a grade of 2.58 carats per tonne for diamonds larger than the 1.17-millimetre square-mesh sieve.
The largest diamond weighed 8.87 carats and had a market value of US$4,076.
The diamond valuation was overseen by WWW International Diamond Consultants in Antwerp, Belgium, an international diamond consultant company. Diamond prices were determined using a Feb. 24 price book.
"The shape, colour and size distribution profiles of this parcel compare very well with current Canadian diamond production," stated Richard Wake-Walker, co-founder of WWW, in a Feb. 26 news release.
The Chidliak site features 64 discovered kimberlites on the south end of Baffin Island, seven of which are considered to have economic potential.
"We are more confident than ever that planned bulk sampling beginning in 2015 of other known pipes at Chidliak with economic potential could lead to the development of Baffin Island's first diamond mine," stated Peregrine CEO Eric
Friedland.
