VANCOUVER (ResourceInvestor.com) -- Hudson Resources is yet another example of how earlier, lucrative diamond discoveries in Canada's Northwest Territories are giving way to new exploration projects in this part of the globe, plus its periphery both westward and eastward. Way eastward, it turns out in Hudson's case.
The company is focused on diamond exploration in the Sarfartoq region of West Greenland, immediately east of Canada, which is on the same Archaean craton that hosts some of the aforementioned diamond stories in the Canadian North.
Vancouver-based Hudson isn't alone. Since 1995, exploration licenses in areas of southern Greenland have been acquired by numerous diamond outfits. Thought not quite a critical mass, with more across-the-board miners in Greenland, diamond explorers have better access to untapped properties through enhanced transport and technical infrastructure and local government support.
As a result, more and more companies from the mining mainstream continue to view Greenland as an untapped resource. Hudson is certainly banking on success there.
This past fall, Hudson announced that a total of 120 diamonds greater than 106 microns in size were recovered from one sample location, named "Garnet Lake". Of these diamonds from the West Greenland location, 9 were classified as macrodiamonds. The samples were processed by the Geoanalytical Laboratories at the Saskatchewan Research Council in Saskatoon.
James Tuer, president of Hudson, was bullish on his company's program after those findings. "The really exciting aspect about the find at Garnet Lake is that it validates our belief that there should be further occurrences like this in the region based on the extent of the kimberlite indicator mineral chemistry found in the tills," he said. "We are currently undertaking work to determine the chemistry and geophysical response of this source in order to extrapolate it across the licence area."
Furthermore, Tuer said at the time of the sample recovery announcement that Hudson would be in a position by this coming February or March to initiate a drill program.
In mid-December, Hudson confirmed the summer sampling program results with the announcement that it had completed the analysis of 10 till samples and 6 kimberlite samples collected.
Mind you, the story on the stock is not nearly as exciting as the announcements coming from Hudson's Vancouver office, nor a Lonely Planet travel log from Greenland. Shares, which trade on the TSX Venture Exchange, are sagging in the C$0.50 to C$0.60 range, well off a 52-week high of $1.10.
At one investment messageboard, shareholders have taken to comparing the stock's performance to like-minded diamond exploration plays in the Canadian North which enjoyed substantial gains during 2004; comparisons that don't bode well for Hudson.
It wouldn't be fair to blame the business climate in Greeland for the stock's fortunes. According to William Rohtert, Chief of Operations with Vancouver-based True North Gems, in many ways the set-up for miners in Greeland is first-rate.
"You're totally plugged in, with heli pads, boat docks, etc" says Rohtert, whose company is involved in a ruby exploration play -- the 5,500-hectare Fiskenaesset Ruby Property, located in the Qeqertarsuatsiaat district, 160 kilometres south of the Greenland capital of Nuuk in Greenland. "The infrastructure is getting better here, and in many ways it is superior to the Canadian Arctic.,"
He also adds that both levels of government and the local population have been onside with his outfit. "We've had good relationships with Copenhagen (Greenland is controlled by Denmark) and Nuuk." he says.
Hudson Resources obviously shares the pro-Greenland sentiments.
The company is hoping that continued news from the exploration front, and a growing interest in diamond plays in Greenland, will ultimately translate into more upside for the company, and growing interest from prospective shareholders in the stock.
