Nanuq Project, Nunavut
- 156,946 hectares located in Nunavut, 300 km north-northeast of Rankin Inlet, adjacent to the Nanuq North project.
- 100% owned by Peregrine.
- 3 diamondiferous kimberlites discovered in 2007.
In the last five years, an area loosely referred to as the eastern Arctic region of Canada has been the most prolific area for kimberlite and diamond discoveries in Canada, with seven new kimberlite districts being identified. In 2007, Peregrine discovered the first three diamondiferous Kimberlites at the 156,946 hectare Nanuq Project ("Nanuq" or "the Project"), establishing a new Canadian diamond district. Two of the three kimberlites are among the largest diamondiferous kimberlites yet discovered in the region. With the first three kimberlites having encouraging diamond contents. Peregrine believes the potential for discovering kimberlites with favorable economic characteristics is good in this new district.
2010 Exploration Programme
The 2010 $3.5 million exploration programme commenced in mid-May with ground geophysics. Ground magnetic and electromagnetic surveys were conducted over priority geophysical anomalies that were selected from previously completed airborne surveys. Kimberlite-type geophysical anomalies that were prioritized based on their geophysical signatures and association with KIMs were targeted for drilling. Drilling commenced in early July and 762 metres in six holes was drilled into the NQN-001 kimberlite. Information pertaining to these drill results are in the June 30, 2012 press release. In addition, approximately 400 KIM samples were collected as a follow-up to anomalies identified from previous exploration work.
Exploration History
The Nanuq Project is located approximately 300 km north-northeast of Rankin Inlet, just south of Wager Bay. (Click here to view the location map). The Project was originally acquired by Dunsmuir Ventures ("Dunsmuir") in 2003 to secure an area containing anomalous concentrations of mantle-derived indicator minerals originally identified in a reconnaissance-scale till sampling program conducted by BHP Billiton in 2000 and 2001. In early 2006, Peregrine and Dunsmuir completed a business combination and exploration on the Project continued. Peregrine holds a 100 percent interest in the Nanuq Project subject to a two percent gross overriding royalty payable to BHP Billiton.
During the summer of 2007 Peregrine drilled three geophysical anomalies at the heads of two indicator mineral trains resulting in the discovery of three kimberlites, Kayuu (Hawk), Naturalik (Eagle) and Tudlik (Sandpiper). The estimated surface expressions of the three kimberlites are five, seven and one hectare respectively. All three of the kimberlites are significantly diamondiferous. In total, 1,559 kg of material from the three kimberlite was analyzed and 1,013 diamonds larger than .075 mm were recovered. A total of 44 stones larger than a 0.425mm square mesh sieve was recovered, with the largest stone remaining on a 1.18mm square mesh screen. Stone counts range from 0.44 stones/kg at Naturalik to 1.26 stones/kg from an 89 kg sample of Tudlik. (Click here to view a summary of the diamond results).
Core from the three kimberlites was logged and interpreted by Mineral Services Inc. and three dimensional models were constructed for Kayuu and Naturalik. Kayuu and Tudlik consist dominantly of volcaniclastic material with subordinate magmatic material. Naturalik is composed dominantly of magmatic material with lesser volcaniclastic material. The kimberlite bodies have some geologic similarities to those found in the Lac de Gras region of the Northwest Territories. Radiometric age dating of Naturalik and Kayuu indicate that their ages are 80 and 70 million years respectively, a new kimberlite age for the eastern Arctic region.
Prior to the discovery of the kimberlites, the property consisted of 144 mineral claims covering 146,500 ha. In the fall of 2007, an additional 62 claims covering 54,500 ha were acquired, bringing the property to 201,000 ha in size. To date approximately 1,300 heavy mineral samples have been collected in the Nanuq area and the entire 201,000 hectare property has been covered by high resolution airborne magnetic surveys with a line spacing of 150 metres or better. In 2008, an additional 114 claims were acquired bringing the property to a total area of 315,000 ha.
In 2008, 931 line kilometres of ground geophysical surveys were completed. In 2009, 1,273 KIM samples were collected under a sampling campaign that had two objectives: initial evaluation of portions of Nanuq that had not previously been evaluated by KIM sampling and follow-up sampling related to previously identified KIM and geophysical anomalies. 482 of the 1,273 samples contained kimberlitic indicator minerals including at least one p-type garnet, e-type garnet, chrome diopside or ilmenite grain, with 100 of the samples returning over five of these grains. Totals of 1,673 p-type garnets and 287 e-type garnet grains were recovered, with one sample returning 50 p-type garnets, ten e-type garnets, four chrome diopside and one ilmenite grain. Microprobe analyses of these indicator minerals are pending.
