Mining Explorers 2017: North Arrow Minerals Inc.

North Arrow Minerals Inc. has seven diamond exploration projects in Canada – Naujaat (formerly Qilalugaq), Mel and Luxx in Nunavut; Lac de Gras and Loki in Northwest Territories; Pikoo in Saskatchewan; and Timiskaming in Ontario. The company started 2017 by cutting a deal to acquire Stornoway Diamond Corp.’s interests in Naujaat and Pikoo, which gives North Arrow full ownership of both projects. The company followed up this transaction with a C$5 million private placement, most of which was bought by Electrum Strategic Opportunities Fund L.P. and Ross Beaty and each will own 19 percent of North Arrow’s outstanding shares, assuming the exercise of all acquired warrants.

With funding in place, the company focused its summer exploration on Q1-4, a kimberlite at Naujaat that hosts 48.8 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 0.54 carats per ton (26.1 million carats) of diamonds from surface to a depth of 205 meters. The C$2 million summer program included 3,469 meters of drilling completed in 11 holes and the collection of a 234-metric-ton mini-bulk sample targeting an under-tested area of the kimberlite. The drilling yielded 2,440 meters of kimberlite core, which will be used for petrography, indicator and microdiamond analysis, and will contribute to a new geological model planned for 2018. The mini-bulk sample will be analyzed for macro-diamonds and will better the understanding of overall diamond value and the distribution of colored diamonds within the Q1-4 kimberlite. A significant population of rare, potentially high value, fancy intense to vivid orangey yellow diamonds has been identified in Q1-4. North Arrow plans further drilling and sampling of Q1-4 in 2018.

Dominion Diamond Corp. approved a C$2.8 million exploration budget for Lac de Gras, a joint venture diamond exploration project owned by Dominion and North Arrow. The 2017 program included ground geophysical surveys of priority targets in advance of drilling. As a result of this program, which was fully funded by Dominion, North Arrow expects its interest in the JV to be diluted to 31 percent.

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