Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. shares, which have fallen dramatically over the past week, shot up more than 50 per cent Thursday after the company reported the discovery of three diamond-related kimberlite pipes on its Nanuq property, about 300 kilometres north of Rankin Inlet in Nunavut.
“Two of the three kimberlites discovered at Nanuq to date are among the largest diamondiferous kimberlites yet discovered in the eastern Arctic of Canada,” the Vancouver-based company said.
The stock closed at $1.15, up 40 cents or 53 per cent, with 827,456 shares traded. It was the highest close for the shares since Oct. 22.
The shares have traded as low as 74 cents, a 52-week low, this week in a general market downturn.
Peregrine has been exploring at Nanuq for two years, taking 1,692 heavy mineral samples and completing more than 14,000 line-kilometres of airborne and ground geophysical surveys.
During the past summer, Peregrine began its first core drilling at Nanuq and targeted three distinct “magnetic anomalies,” resulting in the kimberlite discovery.
“With at least 10 additional magnetic anomalies currently identified on the property, Peregrine is confident that additional kimberlites will likely be discovered at Nanuq when drilling resumes next year,” the firm said.
A total of about 1,632 kilograms of kimberlite from the three pipes, named Naturalik, Kayuu, and Tudlik, were sent to the Saskatchewan Research Council Geoanalytical Laboratories for micro-diamond recovery via caustic fusion.
Peregrine said it is “very encouraged” by the micro-diamond results so far.
The firm said it plans to continue aggressive exploration of Nanuq next year using ground geophysics, followed by core drilling of the most prospective locations. Next season's program will also include core drilling to get larger samples for macro-diamond analysis.
