Saskatchewan diamond find catapults explorer 54% higher

North Arrow proclaims find is significant enough to establish a new Canadian diamond district

Shares of North Arrow Minerals (CVE:NAR) rocketed 54% on Tuesday after the explorer announced the results of drilling at its Pikoo diamond project in Saskatchewan.

The Vancouver-based company’s president and CEO Ken Armstrong said the recovery of “such relatively high counts of +0.85 mm diamonds from the first kimberlite discovered at Pikoo is an exceptional result and establishes Pikoo and the northern Sask Craton as a new diamond district in Canada.”

The company announced a 209.7 kg sample of drill core from the PK150 kimberlite at Pikoo – discovered by North Arrow earlier this year – returned 745 diamonds larger than the 0.106 mm sieve size, including 23 diamonds larger than the 0.85 mm sieve size.

North Arrow, which still has $6 million in the bank to fund future drilling at the site, also announced its intention to vest its 80% earn-in option on Pikoo as part of an agreement with Stornoway Diamond Corp (TSE:SWY).

In afternoon dealings the $16 million company, which is also advancing a diamond project in Nunavut and in the Lac de Gras district in the Northwest Territories, was trading off its highs for the day up 46% at $0.57 on the Toronto venture exchange.

More than 302,000 shares versus usual daily volume of less than 30,000 shares had changed hands by 3.30pm EST on Tuesday.

Image is a selection of stones from the Pikoo diamond find with over 95% of the diamonds described as intact, white octahedrons and aggregates.