The sample contains more than 1,500 metric tons of ore from a 12.5-hectare kimberlite referred to as Q1-4. The kimberlite is one of eight pipes already discovered at North Arrow and Stornoway Diamonds Corp’s Qilalugaq project in Nunavut.

Qilalugaq, meaning “beluga whale” in Inuktitut, holds 7,000 hectares of contiguous mineral claims in northeastern Nunavut, and the Q1-4 pipe in itself already has a considerable mineral resource of 48.8 million metric tons equating to an inferred resource of more than 25 million carats of diamonds.

The pending diamond valuation is perhaps the most significant catalyst since BHP Billiton Ltd. originally staked the property in 2001. An official diamond valuation will accompany official tonnage and grade estimates, providing the final data point needed to extrapolate the potential economic value of Q1-4 and the Qilalugaq project as a whole.

Qilalugaq has flown under the radar, as described by North Arrow CEO Ken Armstrong in a recent media report: “Qilalugaq has never really been anyone’s primary project so it hasn’t

had the profile it might otherwise have had, if say a junior company had made the initial discovery.”

Armstrong added, “Q1-4 is rather unique in terms of its size and location near the ocean.”

Q1-4 is estimated to hold 53 carats per hundred-metric-tons, meaning a report from Antwerp indicating an average diamond value of US$200 per carat would value the Q1-4 resource at more than $5 billion; US$400 per carat would value the resource at $10 billion-plus. This would mean a substantial return for North Arrow on its C$3.7 million investment in the mini-bulk sample that also secures the company as an 80 percent stakeholder in the project from joint-venture partner Stornoway.

Economically mined Canadian diamonds tend to be valued at US$100-US$500 per carat, so a US$200-US$400 valuation is certainly not out of the question, according to North Arrow.

It is worth noting that a unique occurrence of fancy colored