Canada Nickel Company Inc. has filed a Bankable Feasibility Study ("BFS") for its wholly-owned Crawford Nickel Sulphide Project ("Crawford") located in Timmins, Ontario, Canada. The BFS is available on www.sedarplus.ca and on www.canadanickel.com.  The BFS, titled, "Crawford Nickel Sulphide Project NI 43-101 Technical Report and Feasibility Study" was independently prepared by Ausenco Engineering Canada Inc. ("Ausenco"), in accordance with National Instrument 43-101  - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"), as previously announced in a news release dated October 12, 2023.

Crawford, located in the Timmins nickel district, is the world's second largest nickel reserve1. Once in production, it is also expected to become one of Canada's largest carbon storage facilities and be a net negative contributor of CO2 over the project life.

The previously announced highlights from the Crawford BFS are listed below (all amounts in US dollars, unless otherwise indicated).

Crawford 2023 BFS Highlights

Robust economics

• After-tax, $2.5 billion NPV8% and 17.1% IRR; increasing to $2.6 billion NPV8% and 18.3% IRR with projected Carbon Capture and Storage tax credits.

Large initial mineral reserve anchored by significantly larger mineral resource

• Proven & Probable reserves of 3.8 million tonnes contained nickel from 1.7 billion tonnes ore grading 0.22% nickel make Crawford the world's 2nd largest nickel reserve[1]. Reserves are hosted in a Measured & Indicated resource which increased by 74% (compared to the 2022 resource estimate) to 6.0 million tonnes. With additional Inferred mineral resources of 3.7 million tonnes contained nickel, Crawford is the world's 2nd largest nickel resource1.

Large scale, low cost, long-life

• Annual average nickel production of 83 million pounds (38k tonnes) over a 41-year life, with production of 48 ktpa nickel, 0.8 ktpa cobalt, 13 koz palladium and platinum, 1.6 Mtpa iron and 76 ktpa chrome over 27-year peak period.
• Net life-of-mine C1 cash cost of $0.39/lb nickel (by-product basis) place Crawford in the first quartile of the cost curve2. The net AISC cost, on a by-product basis, is $1.54/lb nickel.
• Projected revenue exceeds $48 billion, or more than $1 billion annually over project life.

Significant improvement in recoveries from PEA

• Nickel: 10% improvement life-of-mine (41% versus 37% used in PEA), and a 23% improvement in Phase I/Phase II compared to PEA (46% versus 37% in the PEA)
• Improvements to life of mine recovery for Iron: 46%, Cobalt: 38%, and Chrome: 5%

Significant earnings and free cash flow generation

• Projected annual EBITDA of $810 million and FCF of $540 million over peak period, annual EBITDA of $667 million and FCF of $431 million over project life

Minimization of carbon footprint

• Minimal carbon footprint of 4.8 tonnes CO2/ tonne of nickel in concentrate,2.3 tonnes CO2/tonne of nickel equivalent [2]("NiEq"); largely due to electrically powered mining fleet, including trolley-assist trucks, that are expected to reduce diesel consumption by over 40% compared to diesel powered equipment.
• Implementation of the Company's proprietary IPT (In-Process Tailings) Carbonation process is anticipated to allow capture and storage of 1.5 million tonnes CO2 annually during 27-year peak period, the bulk of which will be sold to third parties.
• Anticipated net negative carbon footprint from carbon capture and storage capacity of 30 tonnes CO2 / tonne of nickel after accounting for project footprint

Qualified Person

Stephen J. Balch P.Geo. (ON), VP Exploration of Canada Nickel and a "qualified person" as such term is defined by National Instrument 43-101, has verified the data disclosed in this news release, and has otherwise reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release on behalf of Canada Nickel.

 

Source:prnewswire.com

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