Mining Weekly reports that Peregrine Diamonds has discovered large diamonds and a coarse diamond size distribution in drill core samples collected from the Chidliak diamond project’s CH-6 kimberlite in Nunavut, Canada.

Following the announcement, Peregrine shares rose sharply yesterday in Toronto by 107.87%, to C$1.85.

The company announced that a 398.8-kg sample collected from CH-6 yielded 2,730 diamonds larger than 0.075 mm, including 131 diamonds exceeding 0.600 mm. The largest diamond recovered from the sample was a 0.62 carat white transparent aggregate.

According to the diamond mining company’s findings, the CH-5 kimberlite was also determined to be diamondiferous - a 423.7 kg surface sample yielded 49 diamonds exceeding 0.75 mm.

Peregrine CEO Eric Friedland stated: "We believe these microdiamond counts from CH-6 are some of the best results in the history of Canadian diamond exploration and a testament to the outstanding potential of Chidliak.”

Peregrine President Brooke Clements said: "The microdiamond results from CH-6 are some of the strongest I have seen in my 27 year career in diamond exploration and to my knowledge, are the best publicly disclosed microdiamond results from a Canadian kimberlite since the discovery of the A-154 pipe at Diavik in the Northwest Territories in 1994.”

The 2009 Chidliak diamond exploration program is being fully funded by BHP Billiton after the mining giant opted to exercise its earn in rights on the project. Peregrine is the project’s operator.

BHP Billiton must spend $22.3-million on exploration to earn a 51% interest in the Chidliak diamond project.