Parcel from North Arrow’s Qilalugaq Project Valued at $36 Per Carat
June 10, 15
(IDEX Online News) – The valuation of a diamond parcel recovered from North Arrow Minerals Inc.’s Qilalugaq Diamond Project has returned a value of $36 per carat. The parcel contained 383.55 carats of diamonds greater than +1DTC (~1 mm) and was valued at $13,795.
Consultancy firm WWW International Diamond Consultants, which carried out the evaluation, modelled a range of possible values with a “possible low” model price of $43 per carat and a “possible high” model price of $92 per carat.
Ken Armstrong, president and CEO of North Arrow said the diamond parcel recovered from the Q1-4 bulk sample is very small. Consequently, the primary conclusion reached by WWW is that these valuation results and modelled values should be treated with caution when it comes to assessing the Qilalugaq Project.
“The valuation of this small diamond parcel is further challenged by the presence of two distinct diamond populations, including a population of rare Type Ib yellows diamonds,” said Armstrong.
He added that the occurrence of two identifiable diamond populations within a single deposit is unusual and was not known to exist at Q1-4 when the 2014 sample program was conceived.
“Additional evaluation of the project will require the recovery of a larger diamond parcel including sufficient carats from each of the two populations to allow for a more confident assessment. North Arrow will review options for the cost effective collection of a larger sample, taking advantage of Q1-4’s large size and advantageous location near tidewater and the Hamlet of Repulse Bay (Naujaat).”
WWW split the sample into three parcels: a yellow, a dark-yellow and a non-yellow parcel. WWW concluded that some of the dark yellow diamonds were intense in colour but they also included some clivage and rejection goods and some of the diamonds classified as dark-yellow were more orange than yellow and that such dark-yellow and orange goods will attract a premium over the other yellow colours.
The dark-yellow parcel had the highest average price at $46 per carat whereas the yellow and non-yellow parcels were both valued at $35 per carat. The dark-yellow diamond parcel consisted of just 24.49 carats (6% of the total) and the combined dark-yellow and yellow parcels consisted of 72.58 carats (19% of the total).