17.9% of recovered stones classify as fancy colour diamonds
North Arrow Minerals Inc. (TSXV-NAR) is pleased to report initial diamond recoveries from the first 70% (1,316 tonnes) of a bulk sample collected in 2021 from the Q1-4 diamond deposit at the Naujaat Diamond Project, Nunavut. Highlights of this announcement include:
- 268 diamonds greater than +9 DTC weighing 117.98 carats were recovered from 1,316 dry tonnes of kimberlite from the A28 unit – the average size of diamonds retained on the +9 DTC sieve is ~0.21 carats
- The three largest recovered diamonds are 3.31, 3.07 and 2.76 carats
- 48 of the 268 diamonds (17.9%) classify as fancy colour (20.9% by carat weight) – indicative of a desirable and potentially high value diamond population
- 58% of the fancy diamonds classify as either “intense” or “vivid” – the two highest colour saturation classes and an important indicator of potential value in fancy colour diamonds
- 91% of the fancy diamonds classify with orange as the primary colour – orange is considered amongst the rarest colours for natural diamonds
- +9 DTC sample grade of 9.0 cpht (carats per hundred tonnes) compares favorably with a similar sized sample collected from the same geological unit in 2014 (9.3 cpht)
- Processing of the remainder of the 2021 bulk sample, collected from the A88 unit, is ongoing.
Ken Armstrong, President and CEO of North Arrow, commented, “These initial diamond results from the 2021 bulk sample confirm the presence of an important, potentially high value, fancy orange and yellow diamond population in the Q1-4 kimberlite and add significant confidence to past results. The significant proportion of fancy colour diamonds in the sample is positive and will provide important information needed to complete ongoing modelling of the size distributions of fancy diamonds in the Q1-4 deposit and will be used in an updated average diamond price estimate in due course.”
Peter Ravenscroft, Managing Director and CEO of Burgundy Diamond Mines Limited (ASX: BDM), North Arrow’s partner on the project, added, “We are very pleased with the results so far of this bulk sampling program, extremely well managed by our partners at North Arrow. Initial indications are very promising, and we look forward to completion of the processing and the subsequent analysis of all results when available.”
The 2021 bulk sample consists of 2,500 sample bags collected from three sample pits (Pits B, D, & E) at the multiphase Q1-4 kimberlite, located just seven kilometres from the project laydown near the Hamlet of Naujaat. The sample was divided into five subsamples for processing purposes, including four subsamples reported today: Pit B weathered kimberlite (296 bags), Pit D weathered kimberlite (445 bags), Pit B rock (325 bags) and Pit D rock (733 bags). All four subsamples are from the A28 unit of Q1-4. Processing of the fifth and final subsample, collected from the A88 unit (Pit E, 701 bags, approximately 280m southwest of Pit D), is ongoing and will be reported when received.
Mr. Armstrong continued, “Diamond recoveries reported today have been achieved using an X-Ray Transmission (XRT) optical sorter, capable of recovering diamonds larger than 2mm. The results are reported with a bottom sieve size of +9 DTC, which is the smallest sieve size for which diamonds are detected and fully recovered using the XRT. While this is a very coarse cut off for a traditional evaluation sample, it meets the needs of the current program.”
