by Greg Klein | November 23, 2017

Having closed the acquisition a week earlier, Arctic Star Exploration TSXV:ADD now has a crew busy at its Timantti diamond project in Finland. Located among favourable regional infrastructure in the Fennoscandian Shield, which hosts the major Russian diamond mines Lomonosov and Grib, the property has geophysics, sampling and drilling planned.

Timantti’s White Wolf kimberlite has already revealed 169 microdiamonds, 111 from 52.7 metres of historically extracted core and another 58 from an 18.9-kilogram sample. The current program will include ground magnetic, gravity and electromagnetic surveys over the Black and White kimberlites to define their sizes and identify other drill-worthy anomalies.

Additionally, 20 backhoe till samples will be taken to search for diamond indicator minerals. Drilling will consist of about eight holes totalling 1,500 metres, with a 500-kilogram core sample from each of the two kimberlites. Results of the program will determine whether to proceed with bulk sampling.

Work will focus on a 243-hectare area covered by an exploration permit. The project also includes a 95,700-hectare exploration reservation.

Among other projects, Arctic Star holds the Cap property in east-central British Columbia, host to an extremely rare carbonatite-syenite complex that’s potentially associated with several commodities. In September the company reported “highly anomalous” assays for niobium, rare earths and phosphate from sampling and a drill hole.

In the Northwest Territories’ diamondiferous Lac de Gras region, Arctic Star also holds a 40% stake in the Diagras JV, where majority partner Margaret Lake Diamonds TSXV:DIA carried out geophysics last summer.

This week Arctic Star appointed Scott Eldridge as president/CEO. From 2008 to 2016 Eldridge led Euroscandic International Group, providing investment banking and advisory services to resource companies. He has been responsible for raising over $500 million in equity and debt financing for mining projects internationally.

Earlier this month the company closed a private placement first tranche of $965,000.

Read Isabel Belger’s interview with Arctic Star’s Patrick Power.