Burgundy Diamond Mines Limited report diamond recoveries from the remaining 30% (498 dry tonnes) of a bulk sample collected in 2021 from the Q1-4 diamond deposit at the Naujaat Diamond Project, Nunavut, Canada, completed by partner North Arrow Minerals . These results, entirely from the A88 unit of the Q1-4 deposit, follow the reporting in an ASX release of 27 April 2022 of the results from the first 70% of the sample, representing 1,316 dry tonnes from the A28 geological unit. The purpose of the 2021 sample is to acquire further information on the coarser sizes of the Q1-4 diamond population, with particular emphasis on potential high value Fancy Colour diamonds.

The results from this final 30% of the sample provide further support to the encouraging indications from the initial 70%. These results will now be combined in a complete analysis of the entire 2021 sample in comparison with results obtained from previous bulk sampling in 2014 and 2017. Conclusions from this analysis will be announced once complete.

On completion of the bulk sampling program, Burgundy will earn a 40% vested interest in the Naujaat Project under the terms of an earn-in option agreement with North Arrow Minerals announced on 2 June 2020. Full technical details are given in the accompanying JORC Table 1, with summary information given below. The 2021 bulk sample consists of 2,500 sample bags collected from three sample pits at the multiphase Q1-4 kimberlite, located just seven kilometres from the project laydown near the Hamlet of Naujaat.

The sample was divided into five subsamples for processing purposes, with results from the first four sub-samples reported on 27 April 2021. Processing of the fifth and final subsample, collected from the A88 unit (Pit E, 701 bags, approximately 280m southwest of Pit D), has now been completed and results are presented in the current release. Diamond recoveries reported below have been achieved using a TOMRA Com 300 X-Ray Transmission sorter, capable of recovering diamonds larger than 2mm.

The results are reported with a bottom sieve size of +9 DTC which is the smallest sieve size for which diamonds are detected and fully recovered using the XRT. While this is a very coarse cut off for a traditional evaluation sample, it meets the needs of the current program. A summary of the +9 DTC diamond recoveries is provided in the table below for 2021 samples collected from both the A88 and A28 units.

Diamond recoveries reported from the 2021 Pit E sample (A88 2021) include 99 diamonds greater than +9 DTC weighing 55.80 carats from 497.6 dry tonnes of kimberlite for an overall +9 DTC sample grade of 11.2 cpht. Recovered diamonds include 21 diamonds larger than the 3 grainer size class (~0.66 carat) and 13 diamonds larger than 1 carat. The three largest diamonds are 7.00 carats (Irregular (polycrystalline), grey, opaque), 2.17 carats (fancy light orange, irregular (fragment), translucent, moderate inclusions), and 2.02 carats (Off white (H colour) aggregate, transparent, minor inclusions).

The GIA colour grading scale is the industry standard for polished diamonds and, although colour grading of rough diamonds is very similar to that of polished diamonds, there is no universally accepted colour grading scheme for rough diamonds. Colour grading of the Naujaat rough diamonds provides useful information for modelling the Fancy Colour diamond population. However, for individual rough stones, the graded colour does not necessarily represent the final colour of a diamond polished from the rough stone, nor does it include characterisation of a diamond's clarity (e.g. presence of inclusions or cloudiness in the diamond).

Previous cutting and polishing of select Naujaat rough Fancy Colour diamonds has produced Fancy Vivid Orangey Yellow diamonds, certified by the GIA and demonstrating that the Q1-4 deposit can produce polished Fancy Colour diamonds for use in the luxury jewellery market.