More macros for Diamonds North (April 24, 2007)

Vancouver – Diamonds North Resources‘ (DDN-V, DDNFF-O) Char kimberlite, on its Amaruk property in the Pelly Bay Diamond District of Nunavut, has yielded 178 diamonds from a 159.35 kg sample including a half-dozen macro-sized stones (classified as having one dimension larger than 0.5 mm).

The Char kimberlite sample was extracted from a single reverse circulation (RC) drill hole completed to a depth of about 59 metres. The pipe has an estimated size of about 1.5 hectares based on geophysics.

Diamonds North notes that three-quarters of recovered stones are octahedral in shape and 88% are classified as white. About 14% of the diamonds were fragments not unanticipated as significant pulverization of the sample occurs during the RC drilling process.

The three largest diamonds recovered were 0.77mm by 0.77mm by 0.40mm, 0.77mm by 0.40mm by 0.40mm and 0.68mm by 0.40mm by 0.43mm.

The sample was a composite of RC cuttings from three intervals within the hole, the uppermost section returning the highest stone population.

Char is the second kimberlite discovered on the property to turn in a high diamond count following the recently announced results from the Qavvik pipe located about 35 km to the east-southeast. Qavvik returned 515 diamonds from 397 kg of kimberlite including 15 macro stones.

“Five out of five kimberlites drilled on the property are diamondiferous. Two of the five kimberlites, Char and Qavvik, are highly diamondiferous with greater than 1 diamond per kilogram,” stated Diamonds North president and CEO Mark Kolebaba. “Amaruk may be the first big diamondiferous kimberlite field discovered in Canada since Ekati and Diavik.”

Diamonds North plans mini-bulk sampling at Qavvik and Char this upcoming season. Plans are to use a core drill rig to extract about five-to-ten tonnes of kimberlite from each pipe. Core drilling is expected to mitigate diamond breakage concerns arising from usage of the RC rig.

The company also received results from its Walrus and Beluga kimberlites that turned in micro-diamond counts of 6 stones from 388 kg and 3 stones from 162.1 kg respectively.

Shares of Diamonds North rallied almost 14% on the Char results, gaining 12 to close up at an even $1.00. The company posts a $52-market capitalization given its 51.6-million shares outstanding and has a 52-week trading range of 65-to-$1.30.