Arctic Star Exploration Corp. announced that has received the results of a diamond type study based on twelve >0.3mm diameter diamonds retrieved by caustic fusion analysis of the Sequoia Kimberlite in 2021, on is Diagras diamond property, NT The diamonds were studied at the Saskatchewan Research Council Diamond laboratory in Saskatoon, (an ISO/IEC 1705 Standard lab), using Fourier Transform Infrared ("FTIR") Spectrometry. This type of spectrometry is used to determine the concentration and aggregation state of nitrogen within the diamonds.

Diamonds are broadly divided into two types (I and II) based on the presence or absence of nitrogen impurities and further subdivided according to the arrangement of nitrogen atoms (isolated or aggregated) and the occurrence of boron impurities. The results show that 50% of the diamonds are nitrogen free type IIa diamonds, 33% Type IaA, and 17% Type IaB. showing a pie graph depicting the results.

This is in contrast to the global distribution where it is estimated Type IaA dominates 96% and Type IIa diamonds only make up 2%. Only a small number of active diamond mines regularly produce Type IIa diamonds with the most significant of these being Letseng-la-Terae (Letseng Mine) in the Kingdom of Lesotho and Karowe in Botswana. While Letseng is a low grade (1.5-3 cpht) kimberlite and Karowe approximately (15 cpht), they are probably the most prolific source of large high-value Type IIa diamonds, which contribute to making Letseng and Karowe highly economic deposits.

The Koloa pipe, part of the Ekati mining complex, 34 kilometers west of the Sequoia kimberlite complex is also known to contain these types of diamonds. Type IIa diamonds contain no nitrogen or boron impurities and are frequently either top white colours (D, E, F, or G) or shades of brown. Many pink and brownish-pink diamonds are also Type IIa.

Type IIa diamonds typically have an anhedral crystal shape and exhibit a range of elongated, distorted, or irregular morphologies. Many high-value, top colour, large specials (greater than 10.8 carats) are Type IIa diamonds, which include all ten of the largest known rough diamonds recovered worldwide, from the 726 carat Jonker to the 3,106 carat Cullinan. Interestingly inclusion studies find that the majority of these large stones have come from great depth.

On September 9th, 2021, Arctic Star released results of a study of the indicator minerals recovered from Sequoia, which were analyzed and interpreted by Chuck Fipke. Unusually abundant deeply sourced indicator minerals were reported ($DI indicators), and these are associated with >50ct large Type IIa diamonds from Leteseng, Karowe, and Ekati. This work thus predicted the presence of Type IIa diamonds, now confirmed by the FTIR.

The Qualified Person for this news release is Buddy Doyle, AUSIMM, a Geologist with over 35 years of experience in diamond exploration, discovery, and evaluation. A Qualified Person under the provisions of the National Instrument 43-101.