Canada Nickel Company Inc. is advancing the next generation of nickel-sulphide projects to deliver nickel required to feed the high growth electric vehicle and stainless steel markets
Canada Nickel Company announces initial results from preliminary metallurgical test work. (Credit: omid roshan on Unsplash)
Canada Nickel Company Inc. (“Canada Nickel” or the “Company”) (TSXV: CNC) (OTCQX: CNIKF) is pleased to announce the initial results from preliminary metallurgical test work on the first set of samples from the Texmont Nickel Sulphide Project, which demonstrates a range of grades could be processed using a simple process flowsheet and recoveries that meet or exceed historical results.
Mark Selby, CEO said, “Texmont continues to deliver excellent results, with initial metallurgy yielding nickel and cobalt recoveries and concentrate grades exceeding our expectations. Further, these results were achieved with a simple flowsheet which will maximize potential opportunities to toll mill our initial production. I look forward to the next phases of work while we complete our initial resource on Texmont and complete a Preliminary Economic Analysis (“PEA”) by year-end.”
Mr. Selby continued, “Given our success at Texmont, we capitalized on the opportunity to acquire regional mining claims, consolidating 20 kilometres of property with the potential to find more Texmont-style deposits. We have signed a total of 10 agreements which consolidate 9,520 hectares of mining claims. We view this as an important and highly prospective addition to our Timmins Nickel District.”
The Texmont property is a past producing mine, located approximately 36 kilometres south of Timmins, that contains a large ultramafic body. Through analysis of historic drill data and supported by new drilling (refer to news release June 1, 2023), Canada Nickel has identified a near surface, high grade zone of > 1% nickel wrapped within a moderate-high grade zone of 0.6 to 1.0% nickel. The company is evaluating the potential for near term production from Texmont through open pit mining of this moderate-high grade material.
Table 1 summarizes the results of open circuit testing completed at XPS (A Glencore Company), on three samples from Texmont, with head grades ranging from 0.67 – 1.52% nickel. The samples were selected to represent the moderate-high grade zone of the deposit and were tested using a simple flowsheet with samples ground to 100 microns, that does not require desliming, and which offers flexibility for toll milling. Nickel recoveries were in the range of 79 to 84%, while cobalt recoveries were similarly high, ranging from 77 to 83%. The mineralization shows excellent upgrading potential, with final cleaner concentrate grades between 18 to 28% nickel and 0.44 to 0.70% cobalt, which is considered a high-grade concentrate for material with pentlandite style mineralization. The Company is very encouraged by these results, which are in line with and exceeding the historical results documented in the 2007 Fletcher Nickel NI 43-101 report, supporting the potential for a near term open pit operation.
Through the summer months, Canada Nickel expects to finalize the metallurgical flowsheet by conducting locked cycle and metallurgical variability tests. This test program will be used to define recovery equations for the Texmont PEA, which is expected to be released by the end of 2023.
Canada Nickel, through a series of ten Purchase and Sale Agreements (including one previously announced for 54,000 common shares) has acquired 403 additional mining claims within the Texmont ultramafic trend. The Company will issue a total of 515,400 common shares (461,400 and 54,000) and make cash payments totaling $300,550. Each of the foregoing issuances of common shares are subject to the prior approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, and the shares will be subject to a four-month hold period under Canadian securities laws from the date of the respective issuance.
Source: Company Press Release