Diamond Development & Exploration
Baffin Island, Nunavut ♦ Manitoba ♦ Northwest Territories
Message: Announces $1.5 Million 2009 Diamond Exploration Programme at Nanuq, Nunavut,
| April 30, 2009 | |
| Peregrine Announces $1.5 Million 2009 Diamond Exploration Programme at Nanuq, Nunavut, Canada | |
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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - April 30, 2009) - Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. ("Peregrine" or "the Company") (TSX:PGD) is pleased to announce that a 2009 diamond exploration programme with a $1.5 million budget has been approved for its 100%-owned Nanuq property ("Nanuq" or "the Property") in Nunavut, Canada. The 314,000 hectare property is situated approximately 275 kilometres north and 250 kilometres northeast, respectively, of the communities of Rankin Inlet and Baker Lake. The 2009 exploration programme is designed to set the stage for a 2010 drill program by increasing the kimberlite indicator mineral ("KIM") sample density on the Property and by field checking priority geophysical anomalies. Peregrine discovered three diamondiferous kimberlites at Nanuq in 2007. Many priority geophysical anomalies and unexplained KIM anomalies remain to be investigated, with some of the geophysical anomalies being larger than five hectares in size. The Company believes there is excellent potential to make additional diamondiferous kimberlite discoveries in this new Canadian diamond district. 2009 EXPLORATION PROGRAMME Field work for the 2009 Nanuq programme will commence in early July. Approximately 1,200 heavy mineral samples will be collected and 10 to 20 priority geophysical anomalies will be evaluated by prospecting and geochemical sampling. The goals of the 2009 heavy mineral sampling programme include: - Increase KIM sample density. Approximately 800 of the 1,200 samples will be collected in an effort to increase the sample density over areas of the property with limited or no sample coverage. The main focus of this work will be the 167,000 hectares of claims on the western and eastern edges of Nanuq that were acquired in 2007 and 2008. Maps showing Nanuq and its location are available at http://www.pdiam.com/i/pdf/Nanuq.pdf. - Evaluation of geophysical anomalies. Samples will be collected down-ice of select priority geophysical anomalies. - Follow-up samples. Additional follow-up samples will be collected related to unexplained KIM anomalies with special emphasis on areas with favourable peridotitic garnet and eclogitic garnet mineral chemistry. Results from the 2009 programme are expected to be received in late 2009 and early 2010. Interpretation of these results will assist in planning the details of a drill programme that is currently scheduled to commence in the spring of 2010. NANUQ EXPLORATION HISTORY Peregrine and a predecessor company have spent approximately $7.5 million on exploration at Nanuq to date. Over 1,500 KIM samples have been collected at Nanuq and in adjacent areas. Approximately 70 percent of the 314,000 hectare property has been covered with high resolution airborne magnetic surveys at between 75 and 150 metre line spacing and over 50 ground geophysical surveys have been completed. In 2007, Peregrine selected three magnetic low anomalies at the heads of two KIM trains for drilling which resulted in the discovery of three diamondiferous kimberlites, Naturalik, Kayuu and Tudlik with estimated surface sizes of seven, five and one hectares respectively. Radiometric age dating of Naturalik and Kayuu indicate that they are 80 and 70 million years old respectively. This represents a new kimberlite age for the eastern Arctic region of Canada that roughly corresponds with the ages of the older kimberlites in the Lac de Gras region of the Northwest Territories. Stone counts for the three kimberlites range from 0.44 diamonds per kilogram from Naturalik to 1.26 diamonds per kilogram from Tudlik. The diamond results for Natuarlik, Kayuu and Tudlik are presented in the following table. Nanuq Property Diamond Results Summary ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kimber- Number of Stones by Size Class (mm) lite Sample ------------------------------------------------------------- Name Wt (kg) +0.075 +0.106 +0.15 +0.212 +0.3 +0.425 +0.6 +0.85 +1.18 Total ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Natura- 713 108 82 57 41 17 6 1 2 0 314 lik ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kayuu 791 179 150 117 74 38 24 2 2 1 587 (Total) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kayuu 177 60 50 35 17 10 4 0 2 0 178 (KIMB-B) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tudlik 89 37 17 29 10 12 5 2 0 0 112 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The caustic diamond analyses were completed by the Saskatchewan Research Council Geoanalytical Laboratories which is accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard for microdiamond recovery by caustic fusion In 2008, Peregrine, Indicator Minerals Inc. and Hunter Exploration Group discovered the diamondiferous NQN-001 kimberlite on the 33,000 hectare Nanuq North property, just north of Nanuq (see Peregrine news releases dated September 3, 2008 and February 10, 2009). NQN-001 is situated approximately 17 kilometres north of the Naturalik, Kayuu and Tudlik kimberlites and its estimated minimum size is 4.5 hectares. This discovery increased the size of this diamond district and is a further illustration of the excellent exploration potential at Nanuq. Mr. Peter Holmes, P. Geo., Peregrine's Vice President, Exploration, is a Qualified Person under NI 43-101 and is responsible for the design and conduct of the programmes carried out by the Company on the Nanuq property. Mr. Holmes has reviewed this news release and approves of its contents. Mr. Duncan McBean, P. Geo., is Peregrine's Project Manager for Nanuq. |
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