No diamonds, lots of hype

Though they haven't found any diamonds yet, Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. of Vancouver is playing up its recent discovery of a large kimberlite pipe about 150 miles north-east of Iqaluit in the Hall Peninsula area.

Kimberlite pipes are large, usually conical geological structures that often contain diamonds. But only about one per cent of kimberlite pipes contain diamonds in commercially viable quantities.

Peregrine's diamond hunters discovered the pipe within a parcel of land they're calling "Chidliak," which stretches over a large area between Cumberland Sound and the interior of Hall Peninsula.

The company has done only an airborne survey, and haven't received any results from about 200 kilograms worth of rock samples sent to a laboratory in Saskatchewan.

But that hasn't stopped them from touting the discovery in a news release that says the company has found 65 "kimberlite-type anomalies."

"Peregrine is highly encouraged with the success of the airborne survey thus far. With 60 per cent of the survey complete, the presence of a new kimberlite district with good tonnage potential has been confirmed…." an Aug. 7 news release says.

The news release also says they've found lots of pyrope garnet and olivine macrocysyts – rocks that sometimes indicate that diamonds may lie nearby.

Despite this news, stock market investors are avoiding Peregrine's stock. As of this past Tuesday, Peregrine was trading at only 19 cents a share.

Less than a year ago, their stock had reached a high of $1.42.

The company is developing a diamond property in the Northwest Territories called "DO-27", but they've concluded that it's "currently not economically justifiable," based on current fuel prices and exchange rates.

They're also searching for uranium within a large block of claims north west of Kimmirut.