Video: Slides with Ken Armstrong Voiceover, June 2022 - Start at 6:17 for Naujaat Update
The Naujaat Diamond Project.
North Arrow’s diamond exploration programs are conducted under the direction of President and CEO, Ken Armstrong, P.Geo., a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. Mr. Armstrong has reviewed and approved all information posted on this page that is of a scientific or technical nature.
Location: 9 km northeast of Naujaat (formerly Repulse Bay), Melville Peninsula, Nunavut (see 360 degree flight from town to the Q1-4 diamond deposit)
Size: 12,705 hectares of contiguous mineral leases and claims
Ownership: Burgundy Diamond Mines 40%, North Arrow 60%
Stage: PEA - delineation drilling and sampling for diamonds to obtain diamond value
Inferred Mineral Resource*: 26.1 million carats - 48.8 million tonnes total with an average (+1 DTC) total diamond content of 53.6 cpht to a depth of 205m - Caution *Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability
Closest Infrastructure: 7km from tidewater; community access trail in the permitting and financing stage (see map of proposed alignment).
Technical Reports: NI 43-101 Technical Report, Mineral Resource, May 13, 2013
Related Diamond Papers and Presentations:
Characterization and Grading of Natural-Color Yellow Diamonds - GIA
Type Classification of Diamonds - Christopher M. Breeding and James E. Shigley
Companion Presentation to April 21, 2015 Press Release on FTIR Study of Yellow Diamonds From Q1-4 Kimberlite - Type Ib Diamonds
Details on the NI 43-101 Resource
The Naujaat Diamond Project is located in close proximity to the community of Naujaat, Nunavut. Since diamonds were discovered in the area in 2003, the property has undergone several phases of exploration using airborne geophysics together with property wide till sampling, drilling, and bulk sampling. The Project consists of 7 mining leases and 3 mineral claims covering 10,743 hectares.
A total of eight kimberlite pipes have been identified as well as a number of associated kimberlite dykes (see map). The Q1-4 kimberlite is the largest and most diamondiferous of the kimberlites discovered to date and has been the focus of North Arrow’s work since acquiring the Project from Stornoway Diamond Corporation in 2013. Q1-4 is located on Commissioner’s Land within the municipality of Naujaat, approximately 9 km northeast of the community.
The May 2013 Technical Report outlines an Inferred Mineral Resource at Q1-4 estimated to be 26.1 million carats total diamond content (assumes 100% recovery) from 48.8 million tonnes total content of kimberlite with an average +1 DTC total diamond content of 53.6 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht) extending from surface to a depth of 205m.
Additional resource upside in the form of a target for further exploration ("TFFE") was estimated at between 7.9 to 9.3 million carats of diamonds (from 14.1 to 16.6 million tonnes total content of kimberlite with an average +1 DTC total diamond content of 56.1 cpht (assumes 100% recovery), extending from 205m depth to 305m depth.
In 2014 North Arrow extracted a 1353 dry tonne sample for the A28 portion of the kimberlite recovering 11,083 diamonds greater than +1 DTC (~1 mm) weighing 384.28 carats for an overall sample grade of 28.4 cpht (carats per hundred tonnes). The recovered diamonds include 30 diamonds larger than the 3 grainer (~0.6 carat) size and 15 diamonds larger than 1 carat. Coloured diamonds, representing a range of orange and yellow hues and tones , comprised approximately 9.0% by stone count and 21.5% by carat weight of the +1 DTC diamonds. The seemingly coarser population of coloured diamonds were determined by FTIR work to represent a separate and younger population to the white diamonds.
Cutting and polishing of some of the clearer coloured rough diamonds in 2016 produced gemstones that were certified by the Gemological Institute of America as fancy vivid orangey yellow (see image to right).
Vivid diamonds have the highest possible colour saturation and demand a premium in the diamond market. More diamonds will be required (approximately 2000 carats total) from the Q1-4 kimberlite to determine whether the yellow diamond population will have a positive enough impact on the overall diamond price because of their coarser population and/or their higher value per carat.
A 2017 mini-bulk sample advanced this evaluation by providing an indication of the characteristics of the coloured diamonds in the A88 phase of the deposit. A total of 209.8 dry tonnes were collected from a single sample pit and demonstrated a similar proportion of coloured diamonds (21.2% by carat weight) as earlier A28 sampling (21.5% by carat weight). See press release dated February 28th, 2018 for more information.
On June 2, 2020 it was announced that North Arrow had entered into an option agreement with Burgundy Diamond Mines "Burgundy" of Australia to fund further evaluation of the coloured diamond population at the Q1-4 diamond deposit. In particular, Burgundy agreed to spend Cdn $5.6 million to fund the collection and processing of 2000 tonne sample of the Q1-4 kimberlite.
The program commenced on June 21, 2021, and was announced completed on August 19, 2021, with the collection and helicopter transport of 2500 bags of kimberlite moved to the company's laydown area near the town quarry. The sample was loaded on to the September sealift and shipped south to Montreal, where it was then loaded on to flatbed trucks for the remaining journey to the Saskatchewan Research Council is Saskatoon for final diamond recovery. Processing results were released according to the two phases of kimberlite collected, with the A28 results being announced on April 26, 2022 and the A88 results, on July 28th, 2022.
On receipt of a final report from North Arrow regarding the diamond results in October 2022, Burgundy has approximately two months to decide whether to earn an additional 20% in the Q1-4 diamond deposit by funding collection of an additional 10,000 tonne bulk sample required to accurately determine the overall diamond value of the stones at Q1-4.
As part of the assessment of the results, the entire parcel of diamonds recovered from the 2014, the 2017, and the 2021 samples are being sent to Perth, Australia for Burgundy's viewing and internal valuation. Some test polishing may be conducted to assess what colours could be achieved, which has a big impact on the potential final value of these stones.
In support of the proposed 10,000 tonne sampling program mentioned above, the Hamlet of Naujaat has been working with Ecologic Consultants and On
Site Engineering actively pursuing the financing and permitting required to commence construction on this access road. A positive NIRB screening has been received to upgrade an existing ATV trail that heads northeast from the community. The proposed access trail will pass approximately 1.5 km southeast of Q1-4 at kilometre 11 of its proposed 15 km length.
Use of the access trail would reduce the cost of a bulk sample, reduce local air traffic disturbance, and increase opportunities for local businesses and employment. North Arrow envisages that for every dollar put into building the road, North Arrow would be spending approximately $3 to $4 in the community on wages, supplies, hamlet services and road use fees during the proposed bulk sampling. In addition to the economic opportunities the road would bring to the Hamlet of Naujaat as a direct result of the bulk sample program, a number of beneficial social and economic development outcomes have been envisaged, including increased tourism and education opportunities, access to aggregate and carving stone sources as well as improved and safer access to the land for traditional land use activities. The access trail will lie entirely within the community’s municipal boundaries.
The plan for the processing of a 10,000 tonne sample is to use the Community Access Road to truck the 10,000 tonne bulk sample to a processing plant situated in or near Naujaat. With this in mind, North Arrow engaged Imilingo Mineral Processing of Pretoria, South Africa, TOMRA, and Microlithics Laboratories of Thunder Bay, Ontario to complete an engineering design and costing study of a small-scale mobile diamond recovery plant to be situated most likely at our laydown site near town's quarry. The plant will be designed to produce a hand-sortable concentrate focussed on the recovery of +3 mm diamonds and larger (possibly down to +2 mm cutoff). A significant amount of the cost associated with processing past Q1-4 kimberlite samples has been related to ensuring and documenting the recovery of smaller diamonds, but it is the larger stones' qualities that will have the biggest impact on the overall diamond price, and will ultimately dictate whether the deposit could be economically viable. For more information on the development of this small-scale mobile diamond recovery plant please see the NAR Press Release dated May 13, 2019.
North Arrow is also working towards an update to the 2013 NI 43-101 Resource Statement. A total of 3,469 m of delineation drilling in 11 holes was completed as part of 2017 summer program confirming the overall size of the Q1-4 body and better defining the size and shape of the kimberlite at depth. Drilling between 205 and 305 m below surface (-135 to -235 masl) confirmed (or possibly expanded) previous interpretations of overall pipe geometry with the potential to add significant mineral resources below 205 m (-135 meters above sea level "masl"). The estimated surface area of the kimberlite at 305 m depth below surface (-235 masl) is at least 5 ha and the body remains completely open to depth with the deepest drill hole terminating in kimberlite at a depth of 376 m (-311 masl). Certain areas of the pipe require additional drilling to increase the confidence level of the Target for Further Exploration and bring it into the Inferred category. The 2017 drilling yielded 2,440 m of kimberlite core which was used for petrography, indicator and microdiamond analysis and contributed to the evolving geological model. A follow-up delineation drill program is tentatively planned for summer 2023 and should provide enough confidence to extend the resource. An update to the NI 43-101 resource statement will be made when drilling has been completed and the results have been incorporated into the new model.
The reader is cautioned that mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. In addition, the potential quantity and grade of any target for further exploration is conceptual in nature, there has not been sufficient exploration to define a mineral resource, and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource.
