Peregrine Reports Increase in Mineral Resource Estimate at Chidliak

(IDEX Online News) – Peregrine Diamonds Ltd has announced an increase in estimated tonnage and diamond reserves at its Chidliak Diamond Project in Nunavut, Canada.

Peregrine revealed that the inferred mineral resource for the upper 260 meters of the CH-6 kimberlite had substantively increased, with tonnage rising 40 percent from 3.32 million tons to 4.64 million tons, and estimated number of carats rising from 8.57 million to 11.39 million carats – a 33-percent increase. The previous estimates were based on an inferred mineral resource that Peregrine announced in January 2015.

In February 2014, the company announced that the average price for CH-6 diamonds had been estimated at $213 per carat. This is based on a modeled price that ranged from a low of $162 per carat to a high of $236 per carat, with a base model price of $188 per carat.

The revised resource includes a newly identified zone, which is currently believed to contain 3.15 million carats in 0.76 tons – an estimated grade of 4.16 carats per ton. There is also some evidence that CH-6 kimberlite could contain mineral resources to a depth of 380 meters.

"When we planned the 2015 Resource Development Program for the CH-6 kimberlite, the challenge was to design a cost effective program that would make a material difference to the Chidliak project,” said Peregrine president and CEO Tom Peregoodoff.

“With a simple two hole program and additional microdiamond sampling of existing core, we have exceeded the targeted resource expansions we initially envisaged. The 33 per cent uplift in the CH-6 diamond resource…should have a positive material impact on the outcome of the Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA").”