Peregrine Collects 508 Tonne Bulk Sample from CH-6
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/23/13 -- Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. ("Peregrine" or "the Company") (TSX: PGD) is pleased to report that a bulk sample weighing approximately 508 wet tonnes has been collected by surface trenching from the CH-6 kimberlite on the Company's 100 percent-owned Chidliak project ("Chidliak" or "the Project") located on Baffin Island, 120 kilometres from Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, Canada. As reported by Peregrine on September 5, 2012, the Project is subject to an option agreement with De Beers Canada ("De Beers") whereby De Beers has the exclusive right until December 31, 2013 to enter into an earn-in and joint venture agreement for Chidliak on a 50.1 percent De Beers / 49.9 percent Peregrine basis.
To date, approximately 325 tonnes of the 508 tonne bulk sample from the CH-6 kimberlite have been transported to Iqaluit where the sample is being stored until the summer when it will be transported to Montreal on the sealift. The sample is currently scheduled to be processed by the Saskatchewan Research Council in Saskatoon in the fourth quarter, followed by independent valuations of the resulting diamond parcel. Peregrine will not commence processing of the bulk sample until the earlier of: 1) De Beers delivering to the Company binding notice of their decision regarding their right to enter into an earn-in and joint venture agreement for Chidliak or 2) the expiry of this right. Peregrine's objective is to utilize the diamond grade and value information from the bulk sample and geologic and diamond content information acquired from core drill programs conducted in 2009, 2010 and 2011 to develop a preliminary revenue model and establish an initial resource for CH-6. This work will serve as a foundation for future independent resource calculations and together with the mining study being completed by De Beers, enable the completion of a Preliminary Economic Assessment for CH-6 in the first half of 2014.
The commencement of the CH-6 bulk sampling program, with an approximate sample size target of 200 tonnes, was announced on January 28, 2013. Work completed in February and March included the establishment of a camp near CH-6, mobilization of an excavator, drill and blast equipment and supplies to site from Iqaluit, and drilling and blasting of the trench area. The trench was excavated in early April exposing kimberlite below approximately four metres of overburden and approximately 508 wet tonnes of excavated kimberlite material was placed in securely sealed sample bags, each holding approximately one tonne. The sampling was completed on April 13 and the trench site was reclaimed. Transportation of the samples from the CH-6 site to Iqaluit commenced on April 9 using up to four Caterpillar Challenger vehicles hauling the sample via sleighs. In addition, a DC-3 aircraft is being utilized to transport sample material to Iqaluit. Four additional Challenger convoy round trips are required to transport all of the remaining bulk sample material to Iqaluit.
As reported on December 6, 2010, a 14.11 tonne mini-bulk sample collected from CH-6 returned a grade of 2.84 carats per tonne. If that grade is confirmed with further testing, CH-6 would be one of the highest grade kimberlite pipes in the world. On April 2, 2012, Peregrine reported a tonnage estimate for CH-6 that identified 5.7 million tonnes of kimberlite to a depth of 325 meters, with 3.6 million tonnes considered reasonably defined with good drilling support. The tonnage estimate does not constitute a mineral resource and there is no assurance that a resource will be identified through further exploration work at CH-6.
Mr. Alan O'Connor, Professional Geologist, Peregrine's Chidliak Project Manager, is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 and is responsible for the design and conduct of the programs carried out by the Company at Chidliak.
Mr. David Farrow, Professional Geologist and President of Geostrat Consulting Services Inc., a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101, prepared the CH-6 tonnage calculation and has reviewed the CH-6 geological model and diamond size distribution data.
Mr. O'Connor and Mr. Farrow 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. Peregrine has discovered two new diamond districts in Nunavut, Nanuq in 2007 and Chidliak in 2008. At its 72 percent owned, nine hectare DO-27 kimberlite in the Northwest Territories, located only 27 kilometres from the Diavik Diamond Mine, a NI 43-101 compliant 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, which is open at depth, was confirmed in 2008. At its 100 percent-owned Chidliak project, located 120 kilometres from Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, the Company has discovered 61 kimberlites to date, seven of which exhibit economic diamond mining potential. Peregrine also continues to evaluate earlier stage diamond exploration projects it controls in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories and through comprehensive evaluation of its extensive and proprietary diamond exploration databases, is working towards discovering new diamond districts in North America.
For further information on Peregrine Diamonds, please visit www.pdiam.com.
Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements relating to exercise of the option to joint venture by De Beers, the proposed exploration programme, funding availability, anticipated exploration results, resource estimates and future exploration and operating plans are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements and, even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, uncertainties relating to the exercise of the option to joint venture by De Beers, availability and cost of funds, timing and content of work programmes, results of exploration activities, interpretation of drilling results and other geological data, world diamond markets, future diamond prices, reliability of mineral property titles, changes to regulations affecting the Company's activities, delays in obtaining or failure to obtain required project approvals, operational and infrastructure risk and other risks involved in the diamond exploration business. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to their inherent uncertainty.
Contacts:
Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.
Mr. Eric Friedland
CEO
604-408-8880
604-408-8881 (FAX)
Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.
Mr. Brooke Clements
President
604-408-8880
604-408-8881 (FAX)
Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.
Mr. Tom Peregoodoff
Executive VP, Business Development
604-408-8880
604-408-8881 (FAX)
Peregrine Diamonds Ltd.
Investor Relations
604-408-8880
604-408-8881 (FAX)
investorrelations@pdiam.com
www.pdiam.com