Arctic Star outlines NWT diamond targets
Arctic Star Exploration Corp. [ADD-TSXV; ASDZF-OTCQB; 82A1-FSE] shares were active Monday May 6 after the company said the spring exploration program has been successfully completed at its 40%-owned Diagras diamond property in the Northwest Territories.
The shares eased 6.25% or $0.005 to 7.5 cents on volume of 1.44 million, and now trade in a 52-week range of 8.5 cents and 3.5 cents.
Covering 22,595 hectares within 31 mineral claims and hosting 23 known kimberlites, Diagras is one of one of four diamond-focused projects in the Arctic Star portfolio.
The others are the Redemption projects in Canada’s Northwest Territories, the Stein Project in the Canadian Nunavut, and the Timantti (Finnish for diamonds) Diamond Project in Finland.
The portfolio also includes the Cap rare earths project in British Columbia.
Diagras is located next to the Ekati and Diavik diamond mines and has already generated drill ready targets. The project is held jointly by Arctic Star and Margaret Lake Diamonds Inc. [DIA-TSXV; DDIAF-OTC]. The latter company holds a 60% project stake.
On Monday, Arctic Star said data from a ground geophysics program has been received and interpreted by Artic Star’s technical team. The company said this work has generated enough drill targets to justify drill mobilization, planned for the spring of 2020. The company said the Diagras Project has an active Class A land use permit which includes drilling. The permit is good until 2022 and can be extended.
Meanwhile, Arctic Star said it still has kimberlites that have not been covered by gravity and EM surveys, including the known Anne, Tabatha, Finlay, Don, Drew, George, Emily and Krista kimberlites. “Given the high target generation success rate proven by our work to date, these remain a priority,” the company said in a press release. “This work can proceed at the same time as the planned drill program,” it said. “It is important to note that the joint venture has obtained all the permits to conduct this drill program.”
Arctic Star has commenced exploration in Finland on the Timantti Project, where four diamondiferous kimberlite bodies may represent the first finds in a large kimberlite field, the company has said. The Timantti Project is located approximately 550 kmsouthwest of the operating Grib Diamond Mine in Russia.
Artic Star recently said it had successfully applied for and received its second exploration permit named Vaimosou (882 hectares) on the 100%-owned Timantti Project. The permit adjoins and partially surrounds the existing 289-hectare exploration permit named Salvarra, which contains all four of the kimberlites discovered to date.