North Arrow finds intriguing KIMs in NWT

North Arrow Minerals Inc. Feb 22 released a processing update from the bulk sampling program at its shared Naujaat diamond project and kimberlite indicator mineral results from samples collected in 2021 from its Pikoo and Loki diamond projects.

As its partner Burgundy Diamond Mines Ltd. advances bulk sampling at the Naujaat project in Nunavut, Canada, North Arrow revisited its 100%-owned Loki diamond project in the Lac de Gras region of Northwest Territories.

For Naujaat, processing and diamond recoveries from the 2021 bulk sample are still ongoing, with dense media separation (DMS) processing of the nominal 2,000 metric ton sample being approximately 47% complete.

The C$5.6 million bulk sample program is being funded by Burgundy Diamond Mines as part of a June 1, 2020, option agreement under which Burgundy may earn a 40% interest in the Naujaat project by funding the current bulk sample program.

Roughly 35 kilometers (22 miles) southwest of the Ekati Mine and 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of the Diavik Mine, the Loki property is found in a region known for its rich diamond deposits. Presently, five diamond-bearing kimberlites have been discovered across the Loki project area.

Kimberlite indicator minerals (KIM) results have been received from the Loki project, where a series of overburden samples were collected as part of an exploration reverse circulation (RC) drilling program completed in June last year.

Samples of thick overburden and ice units encountered during drilling have been processed, and results from samples collected at the upper, near-surface levels of the drill holes have returned from zero to seven KIMs, a result North Arrow says is in line with traditional till sampling in the area.

Additionally, several samples collected at depths of roughly five to 25 meters have returned very high KIM counts, including three samples returning in excess of 100 KIMs, including pyrope and eclogitic garnet, ilmenite, chrome-diopside, chromite, and olivine. These KIM counts are an order of magnitude higher than the most anomalous results returned by surface till sampling on the property.

Moreover, further interpretation of these areas of thick glacial overburden is underway, including an evaluation of the origin of KIM-bearing ice lenses encountered during drilling.

In October last year, North Arrow collected 25 targeted till samples from its Pikoo project in Saskatchewan. Anomalous KIM results from these samples, including kimberlitic pyrope garnet, ilmenite and chromite, have confirmed unsourced KIM trains in the North Pikoo and South Lovell target areas.

The Pikoo diamond project consists of 98,229 acres of mineral claims located approximately 140 kilometers (87 miles) east of La Ronge, Saskatchewan. An all-season road and power line to the community of Deschambault Lake comes within 6 kilometers (4 miles) of the project's southern boundary.

To date, North Arrow has discovered 10 kimberlite occurrences within the project area, and microdiamond testing of five of the kimberlites has confirmed they are diamondiferous.

At North Pikoo, very high KIM counts, in excess of hundreds of grains, were returned from three samples near the head of an existing KIM train, and according to the company, a series of barren samples collected up ice from the target area indicate the train is very well defined.

The North Pikoo and South Lovell KIM trains confirm that undiscovered kimberlites are located within the property, and planning is underway for a follow-up program during the 2022 field season.

In parallel, work at Loki is expected to be completed by the end of March, with follow-up field work during this year's season.