Crawford Nickel Project has potential to become sole large scale carbon storage facility in Ontario and one of largest facilities in Canada
Canada Nickel's Crawford Project is hosted in ultramafic rock. (Credit: omid roshan on Unsplash)
Canada Nickel Company Inc. (“Canada Nickel” or the “Company”) (TSXV: CNC) (OTCQX: CNIKF) today announced that its latest test work results support the incorporation of carbon capture and storage into the Crawford Project.
The Company’s In-Process Tailings (“IPT”) Carbonation process is a novel method for accelerated carbon capture and storage that the Company believes has transformative potential. The latest test work confirms that existing process streams can be utilized for IPT Carbonation which the Company believes should allow it to be timely and cost effectively engineered and incorporated into the flowsheet.
As a result, the integrated feasibility study for the project is expected to be delivered in the second quarter of 2023. This delay has no impact on the overall timeline to production as the Company continues to target receipt of permits by mid-2025 with construction to follow.
“We believe the Crawford Project has the potential to be a case study in how critical minerals are developed in Ontario and Canada,” said Mark Selby, Chair and CEO of Canada Nickel. “Crawford is poised to support the energy transition through the large scale production of critical minerals, including nickel and cobalt, and to become the sole North American producer of chromium, while also supporting the country’s climate objectives through large scale carbon capture and storage.”
The Company believes that the successful incorporation of IPT Carbonation could potentially allow a portion of the Company’s project capital expenditures to become eligible for the carbon capture and storage refundable investment tax credits of 37.5% to 60% from 2022-30 and 18.75% to 30% from 2031-40 announced in 2022 federal budget documents. The Company believes it can clearly demonstrate with the existing broad base of research in this area that the mineral sequestration utilized by the Company can be considered an effective carbon storage approach that would meet Environment and Climate Change Canada requirements.
“We are developing Crawford in a manner aligned with the government’s priorities regarding electric vehicles, critical minerals and climate change. The Company is exploring its eligibility for tax credits as well as other government funding programs related to the Critical Minerals Strategy that have the potential to improve overall project value and, most importantly for the Company shareholders, further reduce any potential dilution to finance it,” said Selby.
“We look forward to continuing our positive momentum in 2023 as we complete this integrated feasibility study for Crawford, continue to successfully advance the Crawford permitting process, work with our recently appointed financial advisors to advance its overall financing package, and aggressively advance our recently acquired Texmont property with its potential for near-term production. We are also excited by our successful tests of the regional exploration potential at Reid, Deloro, Sothman, and Reaume which, as they are hosted in the same mineralization as Crawford, offer the same potential for integrated carbon capture and storage – setting the stage for a Zero Carbon Industrial Cluster in the Timmins-Cochrane region.”
Source: Company Press Release