Mar 24 2015
Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. ("Peregrine" or "the Company") is pleased to provide an update on its 100 percent-owned Chidliak diamond project ("Chidliak" or the "Project"). Chidliak is located 120 kilometres northeast of Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, Canada.
The planned objective of Peregrine's 2015 Diamond Resource Development program is to confirm the grade estimates and provide representative diamond parcels to enable valuation of diamonds recovered from the CH-6, CH-7 and CH-44 kimberlite pipes. Kimberlites bulk sampled in the 2015 program will be included in a planned 2016 Preliminary Economic Assessment on a potential Phase 1 diamond mine development at Chidliak.
2015 DIAMOND RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
The 2015 bulk sample program plans for the collection of bulk samples from the CH-6, CH-7 and CH-44 kimberlites by large diameter RC drilling (up to 26 inch/66 cm diameter). The work is designed to confirm continuity of diamond grade throughout the kimberlite bodies and obtain parcels of diamonds for valuation. If results warrant, Peregrine would prepare maiden resource statements for CH-7 and CH-44 and update the CH-6 resource.
Mobilisation of the bulk sample equipment into the Chidliak site from Iqaluit was completed on March 8, 2015 using an overland trail and Hercules transport aircraft. Drilling has commenced on the first of six holes planned for the CH-7 kimberlite. This first hole has a planned total depth of 220 metres and is the first of three holes planned to provide grade confirmation and representative diamonds for the KIM-2 unit of the CH-7 kimberlite.
2015 Warrants
Peregrine wishes to remind holders of the Company's warrants issued as part of a rights offering inititally announced on August 25, 2014, that these warrants will expire in accordance with the terms as announced.
The warrants will trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange until 12 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (9 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time) on April 6, 2015 and will be delisted at market close on April 6, 2015 . Warrants can be exercised at any time up to 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (2 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time) on April 6, 2015. For further information regarding exercising of warrants please contact your financial advisor or broker.
Dr. Herman Grütter, Professional Geologist and Peregrine's Vice President, Technical Services, is a Qualified Person and is responsible for the design of the Diamond Resource Development Program at Chidliak. Mr. Alan O'Connor, Peregrine's Program Manager, Chidliak Resource Evaluation, is a Qualified Person and is responsible for the design and conduct of bulk sampling programs at Chidliak.
Dr. Grütter and Mr. O'Connor have reviewed this release and approve of its contents.
ABOUT PEREGRINE DIAMONDS
Peregrine Diamonds is a diamond exploration and development company focused on Canada's North. The Company has discovered two new diamond districts in Nunavut, Nanuq in 2007 and Chidliak in 2008. At its 100 percent-owned, 582,477 hectare Chidliak project, located 120 kilometres from Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, 71 kimberlites have been discovered to date with eight being potentially economic. An Inferred Mineral Resource of 8.57 million carats in 3.32 million tonnes of kimberlite at a grade of 2.58 carats per tonne has been defined for a portion of the CH-6 kimberlite. In April 2013, a bulk sample weighing 404.2 dry tonnes was collected from CH-6. This sample returned a grade of 2.58 carats per tonne for diamonds larger than the 1.18 mm sieve size. An independent diamond valuation of the resulting 1,013 carat parcel of diamonds returned an average market price of US$213 per carat and modelled prices that ranged from a minimum of US$162 per carat to a high of US$236 per carat, with a base model price of US$188 per carat. As part of the ongoing resource development program, core and small diameter RC drilling was completed at the CH-6, CH-7 and CH-44 kimberlites in 2014. The 2015 bulk sampling program focused on priority kimberlites has commenced. The objective of the 2015 program is to delineate a resource base that would be the subject of a Preliminary Economic Assessment in 2016.
At the 8,493 hectare Lac de Gras project in the Northwest Territories, located approximately 23 kilometres from the Diavik Diamond Mine, the nine hectare 72.1%-owned DO-27 kimberlite hosts an Indicated Mineral Resource of 18.2 million carats of diamonds in 19.5 million tonnes of kimberlite at a grade of 0.94 carats per tonne and it is open at depth. Peregrine Diamonds also continues to evaluate earlier stage exploration projects it controls in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
Through comprehensive evaluation of its extensive and proprietary diamond exploration databases, the Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary Peregrine Exploration Ltd, is working towards acquiring and developing new diamond properties in Canada. A key asset being utilized in the search for a new Canadian diamond district is a proprietary database acquired from BHP Billiton that contains data from approximately 38,000 kimberlite indicator mineral samples covering approximately three million square kilometres of Canada.
For information on data verification, exploration information and resource estimation procedures see the technical reports entitled, "2015 Technical Report for the Chidliak Project, 66° 21' 43" W, 64° 28' 26" N Baffin Region, Nunavut" dated February 23, 2015, and "Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. Lac de Gras Project Northwest Territories, Canada NI 43-101 Technical Report" dated July 15, 2014, both of which are available on SEDAR and the Company's website.
Source: http://www.pdiam.com/