Canada Nickel secures Federal approval for Ontario project
Canada Nickel Company Inc. [CNC-TSXV] said it has secured Federal approval for its flagship Crawford project near Timmins, Ontario.
The company said the Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Nature has issued a positive decision statement for the Crawford project, making it the first mining project to receive a Decision Statement under Canada’s amended Impact Assessment Act, 2019.
The project is expected to contribute approximately $70 billion to Canada’s GDP and support 185,000 person-years of employment.
Crawford is also slated to become the western world’s largest nickel sulphide operation and North America’s only primary source of chromium. Together these two metals supply critical supply chains in defence, aerospace, stainless steel, electric vehicle batteries and advanced manufacturing.
With the federal Decision Statement now complete, the company will continue advancing detailed engineering, project financing, and the remaining provincial and federal permits required ahead of planned construction.
On Friday, Canada Nickel shares rose 1.9% or $0.03 to $1.61 and trade in a 52-week range of $2.59 and 77 cents.
Canada Nickel said a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) has confirmed robust economics for the 100%-owned Crawford project. Canada Nickel recently said it had entered into a non-binding MOU with Glencore Canada Corp. to examine the potential use of Glencore’s Kidd concentrator and metallurgical site in Timmins for the treatment and processing of material mined from the Crawford project.
Crawford is located 40 kilometres north of Glencore’s operations.
Canada Nickel said the PEA demonstrates the potential to develop a phased conventional nickel sulphide concentrator, producing nickel concentrates and magnetite concentrates. The operation is designed to have an open pit mine with a plant potential of 120,000 tonnes per day.
Canada Nickel was in the news recently when the company released drill results from a regional exploration program on properties in the Timmins, Ont., region. “Our regional exploration program is intended to highlight the potential for multiple Crawford-sized discoveries has taken several big steps forward,’’ said Canada Nickel CEO Mark Selby. Results released by the company were from the Reid, Nesbitt and Deloro properties, which are all located less than 20 kilometres from the Crawford project.
Canada Nickel recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with GeoRedox Corp., launching a partnership to develop the world’s first stimulated geologic hydrogen well on the site of Canada Nickel’s Crawford project near Timmins.
The project will test GeoRedox’s proprietary technology for producing zero-carbon hydrogen from ultramafic rock formations – the same geology that underlines Canada Nickel’s twenty-plus projects in the Timmins Nickel District – and represents a foundational step towards a zero-carbon industrial cluster in Northern Ontario. Hydrogen is used extensively in metal production.
Under the MOU, GeoRedox will fund the demonstration program in full. Canada Nickel will contribute site access, rock samples, technical expertise, data, and other resources necessary for project planning and implementation at Crawford