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Dunnedin property brimming with diamonds
Analysis of 2006-2008 work shows Kahuna deposit may have up to four million carats

Walter Strong
Northern News Services
Published Friday, February 6, 2015

KANGIQLINIQ/RANKIN INLET
Dunnedin Ventures Inc. (TSX.V:DVI) has been moving quickly to establish itself as a contender in Nunavut diamond exploration.

NNSL photo/graphic

A collection of diamonds extracted from the Kahuna kimberlite near Rankin Inlet. Vancouver-based Dunnedin Ventures released a maiden resource statement for the Kahuna property the company acquired last year. - photo courtesy Dunnedin Ventures Inc.

Last year Dunnedin went all-in on a 13,000 hectare parcel of property that included the Kahuna deposit, located about 60 km north east of Rankin Inlet, redefining itself as a diamond exploration company in the process.

Discovered in 2001, the property was part of a larger 800,000 hectare exploration joint-venture project between the now defunct Shear Minerals Ltd. and Stornoway Diamonds.

When Dunnedin picked up the property, company CEO Chris Taylor told Nunavut News/North that he estimated the company gained more than $25 million worth of exploration work previously completed on Kahuna and other deposits in the area.

Last week Dunnedin announced the property's first inferred diamond resource based on data collected during bulk sampling programs completed by the previous owners between 2006 and 2008.

The estimate was completed by APEX Geoscience Ltd., and the technical report should be filed within 45 days.

Dunnedin is reporting an inferred mineral resource of just over four million carats with a 0.85 mm cut-off and an ore grade of 1.01 carats per tonne.

Two kimberlites were included in the report, the Kahuna and the Notch. Both are reported open at both depth and extension, according to a Dunnedin press release.

There are six other kimberlites on the property confirmed to be significantly "diamondiferous," or diamond bearing. There has not been sufficient drilling or bulk sampling on those kimberlites to generate a resource statement.

No diamond valuations have been completed yet for any parcels of diamonds from the Kahuna or any other kimberlites on the property.

Dunnedin acquired the property under a November 2014 option agreement with what Taylor described as a "private geoscience consulting company" under which the company will pay $700,000 in cash and issue 11 million common shares over four years.

Tied to the agreement is a commitment to spend $5 million on exploration on the property over the next four years, including $400,000 within the first year.

The company recently raised $1.05 million in an over-subscribed private placement.

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