Peregrine sees promise at Chidliak
Junior exploration company no longer seeking a partner to develop diamond project
Lyndsay Herman
Northern News Services
Published Saturday, December 7, 2013
BAFFIN ISLAND
Peregrine Diamonds Inc. is no longer looking for a partner to develop its flagship project on Baffin Island in light of a recent bulk sample from the Ch-6 kimberlite pipe.
Bulk sample equipment travels on the tundra en route to the Ch-6 camp. - photo courtesy of Peregrine Diamonds Inc.
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"We're tremendously excited," said Tom Peregoodoff, executive vice president in charge of business development for Peregrine. "We're both very excited of the results and team. It took a lot of hard work to get the bulk sample, but we're tremendously excited about the results."
Peregrine employees aren't the only ones excited. The company's stock jumped over 50 per cent to almost $0.65 the day after the results of the most recent bulk sample analysis from Peregrine's Chidliak project were announced.
Chidliak consists of 748,000 hectares on the south end of Baffin Island and currently includes 64 discovered kimberlites, seven of which are considered to have economic potential.
A 222.1 dry tonne sample of one of the most promising kimberlites, Ch-6, took place this summer and results were released on Dec. 3.
The sample returned a grade of 2.7 carats per tonne and contained 600.5 carats of commercial-size stones. Of those 600.5 carats, 48 stones were over one carat in size, 137 stones were over 0.5 carats in size, and the largest stone was 3.54 carats.
"We were cautiously optimistic we would get a strong result," said Peregoodoff. "The result we just announced is very much in line with, and confirms, the result we received from a 14 tonne mini-bulk sample that we took a few years ago."
The results support optimism generated by an earlier sample from 2010.
"The potential for a high-quality diamond population at Chidliak that we saw in the 40 carat parcel recovered from the Ch-6 kimberlite in 2010 has now been confirmed by this latest 600.5 carat parcel of diamonds," states Howard Coopersmith, an independent specialist who oversaw analysis for the bulk sample for Peregrine, in the Dec. 3 results announcement. "The parcel is overwhelmingly white/off-white in colour, with a potentially important yellow gem population present."
De Beers turned down an earn-in joint venture option for the Chidliak project in October.
The agreement would have required De Beers invest $58.5 million in the project, with a minimum work commitment of $37 million and completion of a bankable feasibility study.
De Beers had until Dec. 31 to decide whether or not to take the deal.
With the positive results from the sample, Peregrine won't be looking for a new partner to fund further development of the project, Peregoodoff said.
"We're not looking for anybody to partner up at this stage," he said. "We had a great experience with De Beers. I'm not saying it wouldn't have been nice if they decided to continue on, but with this result I think this is potentially a company maker and we're in a very fortunate position to have 100 per cent of the project."
Peregoodoff said 2014 will focus on getting ready to conduct additional bulk sampling on other potentially economic kimberlite pipes and exploration work in the southern end of the property where most of the project's identified pipes are located. Work on a feasibility study likely to start in 18 to 24 months, he said.
