Mexico’s proposed higher mining royalties could block nearly $7bn in investments
The Mexican government proposed raising mining royalties under the argument that metal prices have risen in recent years.
Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. (TSX:PGD) announced that the CH-6 kimberlite deposit at its Chidliak diamond project, located 120 kilometres northeast of Iqaluit, Nunavut, is twice as deep as it previously estimated.
“The 2017 resource expansion drill program at the CH-6 kimberlite has confirmed that the high-grade CH-6 kimberlite extends from surface to 540 metres below surface, an additional 280 metres below the 260-metre depth of the current CH-6 Inferred Resource announced on April 7, 2017,” the company said in a press release.
The Vancouver-based miner, who had its first kimberlite discovery at Chidliak in 2008, added that caustic fusion microdiamond results released from the 2017 drill program match well with pre-2017 microdiamond results for the KIM-L High Grade and the KIM-L Normal Grade kimberlite units. The KIM-L High Grade were estimated at 4.16 carats per tonne in the Inferred Resource, while the KIM-L Normal Grade were estimated at 2.12 carats per tonne.
These results, the junior mining company says, will form the basis of a revised CH-6 resource estimate whose expectation is that of extending the categorized resource base from a depth of 260 metres below surface to 540 metres below surface.
Peregrine sees potential for doubling the number of diamonds extracted from the site. In addition to this, the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Tom Peregoodoff, said that the expectations are high following the recovery of a very rare green diamond. “[The finding] bodes well for the presence of other rare, coloured diamonds that could have a significant impact on the overall average prices eventually received for diamonds recovered from the Chidliak project,” Peregoodoff said.
