Ongoing exploration near Deschambault Lake continues to reveal diamond-containing rock, a junior miner reports.
North Arrow Minerals has unveiled initial results from its 2016 drilling program at the Pikoo Diamond Project.
“These results continue to confirm that all Pikoo kimberlites [rocks with the potential to host diamonds] tested to date [contain diamonds],” the company said in a news release last month.
In April, North Arrow reported that a total of 2,124 metres of drilling had been completed during the 2016 program, with kimberlite encountered in 14 of 19 holes.
The most significant discoveries were made in the North Pikoo area, where kimberlite was found in seven of nine holes, the company said.
Detailed petrographic work is underway to aid in the interpretation of the North Pikoo kimberlites in conjunction with diamond results, mineral abundances and core logging information, North Arrow said.
The company first reported recovering diamonds from Pikoo in November 2013. Over 95 per cent of the diamonds were described as intact, white octahedrons and aggregates, making them suitable for gem use.
That was almost five times the global average for diamond finds of 20 per cent, according to the Prince Albert Daily Herald.
At the time, North Arrow president and CEO Ken Armstong said the discovery represented “an exceptional result” and established the Deschambault Lake region as “a new diamond district in Canada.”
The Vancouver-based North Arrow began exploring the Pikoo site earlier in 2013, finding kimberlite in a target known as PK150 during its first drill campaign.
During its 2015 exploration program, the company drilled 24 holes. Drilling tested kimberlite discoveries from 2013 and new targets defined by sampling programs in 2014.
Pikoo is located about 10 km north of Deschambault Lake, a northern Saskatchewan reserve 140 km from Flin Flon.
