North Arrow Minerals Inc. Jan. 15 reported microdiamond results from the 2019 drilling of the Anchor kimberlite at LDG (Lac de Gras), a 147,200-hectare (363,700 acres) diamond property in Northwest Territories being explored under a joint venture with Dominion Diamond Mines.

The C$2.8 million exploration program carried out at LDG in 2019 focused on kimberlite discovery on this prospective property adjacent to the southwest side of the Diavik diamond mine property. This program includes additional geophysics and roughly 1,000 meters of drilling.

In July, North Arrow reported that the first hole of the 2019 drill program discovered the Anchor kimberlite. Out of the seven holes drilled at Anchor last year, six encountered kimberlite material.

A 388.15-kilogram bulk sample of the kimberlite contained 232 diamonds ranging from 0.075 millimeters up to 0.212 millimeters.

North Arrow said the presence of microdiamonds in this fine-grained kimberlite is encouraging.

A kimberlite indicator mineral (KIM) characterization study is underway to compare the Anchor kimberlite mantle sample with the distribution of KIMs in the local till sample database to aid in identifying additional drill targets in the area. This work is part of a full review of the project database that is presently underway, including results from Lidar surveying, ground geophysical surveys, prospecting, till suitability mapping, geophysical anomaly checking and till sampling.

Nick Thomas; North Arrow Minerals Inc.

Geologist Dan Gainer logs core from the 2019 drilling at the Anchor kimberlite discovery.

The LDG joint venture – Dominion Diamonds Mines 89 percent and North Arrow Minerals 21 percent – approved a C$3.5 million exploration budget for the project in 2020. Designed to continue with systematic exploration of LDG, this program will include at least 2,000 meters of drilling to test new targets.

The 2020 LDG program is expected to get underway by early March 2020 with ground geophysical surveys followed by exploration drilling in late spring or summer. This exploration is expected to be fully funded by Dominion, which is expected to dilute North Arrow's JV interest in LDG to roughly 18 percent. –SHANE LASLEY