Peregrine Announces Nanuq North Kimberlite Discovery is Diamondiferous; 206 Diamonds Recovered from a 153 Kg Sample

Feb 10, 2009

Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. (“Peregrine” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce initial diamond results from the NQN-001 kimberlite, situated on the 33,000 hectare Nanuq North property (“Nanuq North”) in Nunavut, Canada. Exploration at Nanuq North is governed by a letter agreement between Indicator Minerals Inc. (“Indicator”), Hunter Exploration Group (“Hunter”) and Peregrine. Nanuq North is situated just immediately north of Peregrine’s wholly owned 314,000 hectare Nanuq property (“Nanuq”), where the Company discovered three diamondiferous kimberlites in 2007.A total of 206 diamonds larger than the .075 mm sieve size was recovered by caustic fusion from a 152.75 kilogram sample of the NQN-001 kimberlite. The sample consisted of drill cuttings collected using a reverse circulation/percussion drill. The analyses were performed at the Saskatchewan Research Council Geoanalytical Laboratories (“SRC”). The results are summarized in the following table.

>> View table here.

A 125.75 kilogram sample collected from the top 64.0 metres of the drill hole yielded 0.89 diamonds per kilogram while a 27.00 kilogram sample collected over a 13.7 metre interval at the bottom of the hole yielded 3.48 diamonds per kilogram.

The largest stone measured 0.98 mm x 0.72 mm x 0.70 mm and is described by SRC as a white/colourless, transparent tetrahexahedron. Seven of the eight diamonds larger than the 0.300 mm sieve size are described as white/colourless and the remaining diamond is described as off-white.

The NQN-001 kimberlite was discovered during a short drill campaign conducted in August 2008 as reported on September 3, 2008. The hole was drilled at an inclination of -58º from horizontal using a lightweight, reverse-circulation rig, and remained in kimberlite for its entire length. Based on ground geophysical data, NQN-001 has an estimated minimum surface area of 4.5 hectares. Numerous geophysical targets and multiple kimberlite indicator mineral trains have been identified at Nanuq North and remain to be tested.

The three kimberlites discovered by Peregrine on its 100%-owned Nanuq property are located approximately 17 kilometres south of NQN-001. As announced on November 22, 2007 and December 4, 2007, all three of these kimberlites returned encouraging diamond results, and two of them, Kayuu and Naturalik, have estimated surface areas of five and seven hectares respectively. The best diamond counts were from the Tudlik kimberlite where an 89 kilogram sample yielded 112 diamonds larger than the 0.075 mm sieve size, including two diamonds larger than the 0.6 mm sieve size.

Brooke Clements, President of Peregrine, stated “The encouraging new results from NQN-001 confirm that all four kimberlites in the Nanuq/Nanuq North diamond district are significantly diamondiferous. More work is required on the known kimberlites in the district and exploration data suggests that other diamondiferous kimberlite sources remain to be discovered. Peregrine is working to finalize a 2010 exploration program at Nanuq that will be focused on prioritizing drill targets and we are working with Indicator to determine the scope of future work at Nanuq North.”

Exploration expenditures on the 33,100 hectare Nanuq North property are currently funded on a 50/50 basis by Peregrine and Indicator. Under the terms of a letter agreement, Hunter retains a 20 percent interest and Peregrine and Indicator each retain 40 percent interests in 16 claims covering 13,900 hectares, including the claim that hosts NQN-001. Hunter’s 20 percent interest is carried through completion of a scoping study. Peregrine and Indicator each have an undivided 50 percent interest in the remaining 19,200 hectares of claims at Nanuq North. Indicator is the operator of the project.

Mr. Bruce Counts, P. Geoph., President and CEO of Indicator is a Qualified Person under NI 43-101 and is responsible for the design and conduct of the programs carried out by Indicator on the Nanuq North property. Mr. Counts has read this release and approves of its contents.

SRC is an independent laboratory that is accredited by the Standards Council of Canada to the ISO/IEC Guide 25 standard for diamond recovery by caustic fusion.

For further information, please contact Brooke Clements, President, Eric Friedland, CEO, or Peregrine Diamonds Investor Relations, at 604-408-8880 or at investorrelations@pdiam.com.