Peregrine Diamonds has approved a $17.7 million diamond exploration program for the 8,580-square-kilometer Chidliak diamond project in Nunavut, Canada, the company announced Monday.

Chidliak is a joint venture between Peregrine and BHP Billiton, which owns a 51% stake in the project, and exploration since 2008 has discovered 50 kimberlites.

The newly-approved diamond exploration program is expected to provide a basis for collecting bulk samples in 2012 that will allow the companies to estimate the diamond value of the site's most promising kimberlites.

Peregrine President Brooke Clements said that he was confident that the investment would allow the company to advance the Chidliak project "substantially… building on our very successful 2010 program during which 34 kimberlites were discovered."

Peregrine Diamonds also owns the 4,370-square-kilometer Qilaq project, adjacent to Chidliak, and in February of this year announced its plans to explore Qilaq for diamonds and other precious minerals, including gold.