Oct 27 2017
North Arrow Minerals Inc. is pleased to report completion of geophysical surveys at its Loki and LDG Joint Venture Diamond Projects located in the Northwest Territories, and a till sampling program at its Pikoo Diamond Project, Saskatchewan.
Highlights of these programs include:
- At Loki, North Arrow completed a 302 line km helicopter-borne magnetic/electromagnetic survey as well as four ground magnetic surveys to better define targets that will be drill tested in March 2018, including the diamondiferous EG-05 kimberlite;
- At the LDG Joint Venture, a 5,567 line km helicopter-borne magnetic/electromagnetic survey was completed, as were 22 ground geophysical grids, ahead of planned exploration drilling in 2018;
- At Pikoo, a total of 42 till samples were collected to better define drill targets associated with the South Pikoo and Bear Lake kimberlite indicator mineral (KIM) trains.
Ken Armstrong, President and CEO of North Arrow stated, "Exploration programs were completed during the 2017 field season at the Loki, Pikoo and LDG Projects as part of North Arrow's successful strategy of evaluating a pipeline of prospective diamond properties in Canada. These programs are in addition to our recently reported discovery of a new Canadian diamondiferous kimberlite field at the Mel Project and drilling and bulk sampling work on the Q1-4 kimberlite at the Naujaat Project. Including the properties reported on today, North Arrow is presently evaluating six drill ready projects, all having required drilling permits, and is planning to drill at least four of these projects in 2018."
In early October, North Arrow completed a till sampling program at its 100% owned, 33,374 hectare, Pikoo Diamond Project located 140 km east of La Ronge, Saskatchewan. The project hosts 10 discrete kimberlite discoveries, five of which have been tested and confirmed to be diamond-bearing, and all of which were discovered by North Arrow at the up ice termination of KIM trains delineated by till sampling. Forty two till samples were collected in the southern part of the property to better define the South Pikoo and Bear Lake KIM trains in an effort to identify additional drill targets prior to renewed exploration drilling on the property. The samples have been delivered to the processing laboratory and will be processed prior to the end of the year.
North Arrow's 100% owned, 8,607 ha Loki Diamond Project consists of two claim blocks, Loki South and Loki East, located in the Lac de Gras region to the southwest of the Diavik and Ekati diamond mines. The Loki East claims are contiguous to the south and east of the diamondiferous Monument kimberlite cluster and to the west of North Arrow's LDG property. Loki East hosts a number of prospective exploration targets as well as five known kimberlites: EG01N, EG01S, EG02, EG05 and EG130. In early September, North Arrow engaged Geotech Ltd. to complete a 302 line km helicopter-borne VTEM Plus time domain electromagnetic and magnetic survey over the known kimberlites and several additional targets. Also during September, North Arrow completed four ground magnetic surveys over six priority targets in the Loki South area. The targets covered by the ground surveys are located at or near the interpreted termination of a KIM train. Final processing of these airborne and ground geophysical surveys is presently underway, and the results will be used to plan a winter 2018 exploration drilling program that will include testing exploration targets as well as further delineation of the diamondiferous EG05 kimberlite.
North Arrow has been notified by joint venture partner and operator Dominion Diamond Corporation that airborne and ground geophysical surveys have also been completed at the 147,200 ha Lac de Gras (LDG) Diamond Project located south of the Diavik diamond mine and immediately east of the North Arrow's Loki Project. During the summer field season Geotech Ltd. completed a 5,567 line km VTEM Plus survey of the southern part of the Project area where previous airborne geophysical coverage consisted only of wide spaced fixed wing magnetic surveys. Additionally, 22 ground geophysical survey grids were completed during spring and fall field programs. The ground surveys consisted of magnetic, electromagnetic and/or gravity surveys testing priority targets selected from compilation work completed in 2016 and preliminary survey results from the 2017 airborne. Final results of the airborne and ground geophysical surveys are currently being interpreted and will be used to prioritize targets for exploration drilling in 2018. North Arrow has elected not to fund its proportionate share of the costs of the 2017 field program and, assuming the full 2017 budget is spent, North Arrow's diluted interest in the project is expected to be approximately 31%.