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by Will Purcell

The diamond and specialty minerals stocks box score for Thursday was a weak 53-85-126. The TSX Venture Exchange fell nine points to 747 while polished diamond prices fell 0.25 per cent. The big mover today was Eric Friedland and Tom Peregoodoff's Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. (PGD), which jumped up 5.5 cents to 29 cents on 3.72 million shares. Peregrine's jump came on the heels of its preliminary economic assessment of its Chidliak project, on southeastern Baffin Island. The study contained no surprises, as its major parameters were in line with the earlier projections of analysts and loyal shareholders alike. The market nevertheless took the news as reassuring, in part because its provides support for recent rumors of interest by a diamond major.

Peregrine's study is based on a 2,000-tonne-per-day mine projected to recover 11.6 million carats from just under seven million tonnes of kimberlite in two pipes, CH-6 and CH-7, over a 10-year period. The result is a discounted net present value of $471-million after taxes and a pleasing rate of return of 30 per cent. The mine is projected to cost just $435-million to build, which includes a 160-kilometre-long all-weather road to Iqaluit that would cut the risks and operating costs significantly over the cheaper option of a winter road.

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