Peregrine Diamonds: A path to power
Tom Peregoodoff has always loved the outdoors. Combining this passion with an affinity for science (and math, but that’s “off the record”) made a career in the diamond exploration world a natural fit.
“I was quite a keen observer very early-on in life, and [working in this industry] is a fantastic way to be outdoors and practice my love of exploration,” he explained.
As president and CEO of Peregrine Diamonds Ltd., a Canadian-focused exploration and development company, he has indeed found his calling—and the company is thriving.
Peregoodoff has an extensive background in early-stage global exploration, operations and business development. With a BSc. in Geophysics from the University of Calgary, Peregoodoff understands the current state of the industry and can anticipate needs for future growth based. While this ability can be partially attributed an innate interest, his comprehensive awareness of the foundation of mining and exploration is mainly the result of direct industry experience.
Team player
As is the case with many good leaders, Peregoodoff is quick to give credit to others when discussing the company’s success.
“The strength of the company is based on the people,” he said. “Led by Dr. Herman Grütter, who is extremely well-known in diamond exploration circles, I’d venture to say that our technical team is second to none.”
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Dr. Grütter’s experience assessing the economic and developmental potential of kimberlite provinces has been key to the project’s continued success, as has his team of experts.
“The tech team is supported by people such as Jennifer Pell, who has also had a very long career specifically focused on diamonds – a lot of which focused on the northern territories as well as the Arctic.
“There are three clusters of new kimberlite discoveries that can be attributed directly to members of this team,” Peregoodoff said, including [President and CEO of Peregrine Exploration Ltd.]Brooke Clements, who led the team that successfully discovered the Renard kimberlite cluster in 2001.
Chidliak diamond project
Located on South Baffin Island approximately 120 kilometers from Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, the Chidliak diamond project is 100 percent owned by Peregrine—but this wasn’t always the case.
“The germination of project was from BHP Billiton,” explained Peregoodoff, who held various executive roles with the global giant for a cumulative tenure of 18 years. In his most recent role as the vice president of early-stage exploration, Peregoodoff was responsible for global exploration activities across all commodity lines.
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