Corporate Highlights

  • Participated in flow-through financing in November 2008 issuing a total of 26,188,334 “flow-through” common shares priced at $0.15 per share resulting in gross proceeds of $3,928,250 from both the brokered and non-brokered private placements. The flow-through dollars are being used to further exploration on the Renard Project in Quebec. (See original press release)
  • Added Chief Executive Officer to Matt Manson’s role as President, stepping in for Eira Thomas who assumed a new role as Executive Chairman. Catherine McLeod-Seltzer moved from Chairman of the Board into the role of Lead Director for the Company. Dave Skelton moved from Senior Project Manager to Vice-President, Project Development. (See original press release)
  • Appointed Dr. Serge Vézina and Matt Manson to the Board of Directors. Dr. Vézina is a consultant and engineer with over 40 years experience in the Quebec mining industry. He is a member of the Order of Engineers of Québec, a former chairman of the board of the Québec Mining Association, a former chairman of the board of COREM, and a member of numerous advisory panels and professional bodies within the Québec Mining Industry. (See original press release)
  • Closed a brokered private-placement on May 29th, 2009 consisting of 8,421,276 “flow-through” common shares priced at $0.17 per share for gross proceeds of $1,431,617. The Flow-Through Shares are subject to a four-month hold period expiring September 30, 2009. (See original press release)

Project Highlights

Renard

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  • Reported a Positive Economic Study in October 2008 (amended in December 2008) that included a National Instrument (”NI”) 43-101 compliant resource estimate and a diamond processing plant design prepared by AMEC Americas Limited (”AMEC”), and a mine plan, capital and operating cost estimate, and an economic assessment prepared by Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (”Agnico”). Highlights of the report are covered below:
    • A NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource comprising 7.0 million carats of Indicated Resource (11.6 million tonnes at an average grade of 60 carats per hundred tonnes, or “cpht”) and 4.5 million carats of Inferred Resource (7.2 million tonnes at an average grade of 63 cpht).
    • Project capital cost of C$308 million (including contingency) and average life of mine operating cost of C$50.35/tonne in a conceptual mine plan utilizing both open pit and underground mining.
    • An economic assessment based on a base case 5.89 million carat resource with a pre-tax IRR of 14.2% (12.1% after tax), and an NPV of C$56 million (calculated before tax at an 8% discount rate). Pre-tax IRR increases to 17.5% (14.9% after tax), with an NPV of C$93m, based on an economic assessment that applies an alternate, supportable diamond price to the Renard 4 and Renard 9 kimberlite pipes.
    • Extensive upside identified in the form of an additional 9 to 21 million carats classified as potential mineral deposit (14 to 32 million tonnes ranging from 31 to 164 carats per hundred tonnes). The reader is cautioned that the potential quantity and grade of any potential mineral deposit is conceptual in nature, and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource. (See the original press release)
  • Completed DMS processing and reported results from over 500 tonnes of material from the Hibou Dyke on the Foxtrot Property, part of the Potential Mineral Deposit as described in NI 43-101 report. In total, 781.41 carats of diamonds were recovered from 543.86 tonnes (dry weight) of kimberlite, representing an overall diamond recovery of 144 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht) for stones retained on a +1 DTC screen. (See the original press release)
  • Allocation of $130 million dollars of capital funding in the Québec Government Budget for the Route 167 from Chibougamau to the Otish Mountains. The Route 167 Extension is the road development project designed to connect the communities of Chibougamau and Mistissini to the Renard Diamond Project by way of several other prospective mining projects and the proposed Albanel-Témiscamie-Otish Park. (See the original press release)
  • Greatly expanded the Renard 2 kimberlite pipe on the northern and eastern sides of Renard 2 at depths greater than 250 meters below surface during the winter drilling program improving the ‘Potential Mineral Deposit’ for Renard 2 to 10.5 to 12.3 million tonnes, up from 2.5 to 7.1 million tones. Much of the new area is within the scope of the existing underground mine design and is expected to have a very positive impact on project economics. (See the original press release)
  • The summer drilling program, underway at time of writing, was designed to focus on detailed delineation drilling and sampling of the newly discovered material within Renard 2, and is expected to allow a restatement of the National Instrument (”NI”) 43-101 mineral resource by year end, followed by a revision of the project’s economic assessment. (See the original press release)

Aviat

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  • Completed 23 exploratory diamond drill holes for a total of 3,225 m of drilling in 2008 resulting in the following highlights and conclusions:
    • A total of 15 holes (2,081m) with 46 intersections of kimberlite suggested AV267, AV3 Lower and AV8 Upper make up the same unit: the Eastern Sheet 1 (“ES1”).
    • Resulting geologic model significantly expanded the lateral extent of the highly diamondiferous ES1 body from approximately 125ha to 250 ha. ES1 is the largest of four sheets now termed the Eastern Sheet Complex.
    • Nine holes (two incomplete) totalling 1,144m helped to confirm the pipe-like nature of AV9 and extended it to a minimum depth of 175m (longest continuous kimberlite intersection 195m).
    • Discovered a new currently unnamed kimberlite sheet within the Eastern Sheet Complex. (See the original press release)
  • Successful collection from two surface exposures of 202 wet tonnes of ES1 kimberlite for diamond processing by dense media separation (“DMS”).
  • First sample (AV6 outcrop) yielded 89.5 carats of diamonds from 42.67 dry tonnes of kimberlite for a diamond content of 210 cpht
  • Second tranche yielded 213.2 carats of diamonds from 148.27 dry tonnes of kimberlite including a 3.99 carat stone for a diamond content of 144 cpht.
  • Total diamond content for the ES1 sample was 159 cpht.
  • Hired an independent consultant, SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. (”SRK”), to provide a conceptual resource study on the Eastern Sheet Complex resulting in the following conclusions: (See the original press release)
    • 12.4 to 16.0 million tonnes total content of kimberlite material from a conceptual model of four kimberlite dykes of the ESC; the ES 1 spans an area of some 260 hectares and represents about 78% of the total kimberlite volume.
    • 235 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht) +/- 30 cpht conceptual estimate of total diamond content, assuming 100% recovery of stones in all size fractions down to a +1.00 mm bottom cut-off and based on limited micro and macro diamond data collected during the 2003 to 2007 field campaigns
    • 24.1 to 40.3 million carats in the ground, using the conceptual range of total content of kimberlite material, conceptual estimate of total diamond content and an allowance for approximately 5% internal dilution within the conceptual model. (See the original press release)

Churchill

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  • Successfully collected an aggregate of 26.1 wet tonnes of kimberlite from the Notch kimberlite dike which will be processed using dense media separation (DMS) to provide a preliminary assessment of commercial diamond content (stones >0.85 mm) and stone quality. (See the original press release)
  • Tested 40 targets with a reverse circulation (RC) drill resulting in the discovery of the Killiq kimberlite which returned a total of 176 diamonds, including five macro diamonds from a composite 29.9 kg sample of kimberlite chips collected from two reverse circulation drill holes. (See the original press release)
  • Completed 14 core drillholes, testing 10 targets which resulted in the discovery of a high-interest kimberlite system within a brecciated zone adjacent to the Kahuna kimberlite. The Kahuna breccia yielded a total of 54 diamonds, including three macro diamonds (>0.5 mm in two dimensions) from a 2.95 kg core sample of kimberlite stringers from one hole through the breccia. (See the original press release)

Qilalugaq

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  • Discovered the Naujaat 7 kimberlite dike from a linear series of discontinuous occurrences of frost heaved kimberlite fragments and boulders extending over a 700m strike length. The host structure was traced for a minimum additional strike length of 1.3km and possibly for as much as 6km total. A small sample was collected for diamond recovery by caustic fusion. (See the original press release)