Peregrine Diamonds buys back Chidliak

Peregrine Diamonds is once again the sole owner of what could become Baffin Island’s first diamond mine.

The company has bought back BHP Billiton's 51 per cent share of the Chidliak property located between Iqaluit and Pangnirtung.

The $9 million deal comes just over a year after BHP Billiton bought into the project in the first place. In November, BHP Billiton announced it was reviewing its diamond business, and evaluating the sale of its portion of Chidliak and of the Ekati diamond mine in the N.W.T.

"It allows us to make all the decisions at both the technical, operational and financial level," said Brooke Clements, president of Peregrine Diamonds. "It will give us a lot more flexibility."

Peregrine has temporarily put its bulk sampling program on hold to reassess how the company wants to move forward but Clements said the 2012 exploration program will be aggressive.