The acquisition was completed through the purchase of a 72.1% stake from Peregrine Diamonds, a subsidiary of De Beers Canada, and a further 17.6% from Archon Minerals. With this move, Arctic Blue assumes operational leadership of the WO Joint Venture and gains full control over future diamond marketing rights from the project.
Spanning eight mining leases across 5,815 hectares, the WO Project is strategically located near major existing operations such as the Diavik and Ekati diamond mines in Canada’s Northwest Territories. At the heart of the project is the DO27 kimberlite pipe, which spans nine hectares beneath a shallow, one-square-kilometre lake. The site has already undergone extensive exploration, including 114 core holes and 46 large-diameter reverse circulation drill holes.
Current estimates place the indicated mineral resource at 19.5 million tonnes, containing approximately 18.2 million carats of diamonds, with a grade of 0.94 carats per tonne.
Although the WO Project is currently under care and maintenance, Arctic Blue intends to launch environmental, geological, and engineering assessments to evaluate the feasibility of commercial production. Among the options under consideration is the use of underwater remote mining (URM) technology, which the company believes could enable highly efficient and sustainable extraction from the site’s soft kimberlite ore.
According to Arctic Blue, the DO27 ore’s properties make it particularly suitable for generating high-grade diamond concentrates — potentially exceeding 80 carats per tonne — for transport to either existing recovery facilities or a purpose-built plant in Yellowknife.
The company’s next steps include detailed feasibility studies aimed at unlocking the site's economic potential, with a strong emphasis on sustainability and cost efficiency.
