North Arrow Updates Qilalugaq Project Bulk Sample Processing
January 22, 15
Mega-bags of North Arrow's Q1-4 kimberlite in Repulse Bay
(IDEX Online News) – Canadian diamond exploration company North Arrow Minerals Inc. reports that the Qilalugaq diamond project bulk sample is currently being processed for the recovery of commercial sized diamonds. The approximately 1,500-tonne sample was collected in July and August 2014 from the Q1-4 kimberlite, which is located nine kilometers from the Hamlet of Repulse Bay (Naujaat) in Nunavut, Canada.
The resulting diamond parcel will be used to provide an indication of Q1-4’s overall diamond value as well as the sample’s diamond content, size distribution and to establish whether or not a population of yellow diamonds seen in earlier-stage sampling persists into the larger diamond sizes.
According to North Arrow, dense media separation processing of the sample is over 50 percent complete and is expected to be finished in March. Diamond sorting is also well underway and preliminary observations indicate that diamond recoveries are in line with expectations and similar in character to diamond parcels from earlier, smaller samples, including a population of colored diamonds exhibiting a range in yellow hues. Full processing of the sample is on track for completion in April.
DMS processing of the sample is being conducted by Microlithics Laboratories Inc. in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Final processing of the DMS concentrate is being conducted at Stornoway Diamond Corporation’s x-ray sorting machine and diamond-sorting facility in North Vancouver, British Columbia.
North Arrow is currently working to earn an 80 percent interest in the Qilalugaq diamond project from Stornoway, subject to one-time back-in right of Stornoway’s, by collecting and processing the current bulk sample.
In addition to the Qilalugaq project, North Arrow is also evaluating each of the Pikoo, Redemption, Lac de Gras, Mel, Luxx and Timiskaming diamond projects throughout Canada.