Overview
Nickel is poised to play an essential role in the booming electric vehicle market which is expected to increase to $1.3 trillion by 2028 at a CAGR of 24.3 percent. And although the European climate group says there is enough nickel for 14 million EVs in 2023, the Industry Innovation and Science Australia (IISA) expects a deficit in the metal after 2022, while the IMF forecasts nickel prices to reach $19,000 per metric tonnes in 2026.
Canada Nickel (TSXV:CNC, OTC:CNIKF) 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 has applied in multiple jurisdictions to trademark the terms NetZero Nickel TM, NetZero Cobalt TM, NetZero Iron TM, and is pursuing the development of processes to allow the production of net-zero carbon nickel, cobalt and iron products.
Canada Nickel provides investors with leverage to nickel in low political risk jurisdictions. Canada Nickel is currently anchored by its 100 percent owned flagship Crawford Nickel-Cobalt Sulphide Project in the heart of the prolific Timmins-Cochrane mining camp. The company’s shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol ‘CNC’ and are quoted on the OTCQX under the symbol ‘CNIKF.’ For more information, please visit www.canadanickel.com
Company Highlights
One of the top 5 nickel sulphide resources globally, with significant expansion potential from regional land packagePeak production of 42 ktpa of nickel – would be one of five largest nickel sulphide operations when in production. Twenty-five-year mine life generates 842 kt of nickel, 21 Mt of iron, and 1.5 Mt of chrome.Top decile CO2e intensity according to Skarn Associates. Launched wholly-owned NetZero Metals Inc. to develop zero-carbon production of Nickel, Cobalt and Iron and applied for the trademarks NetZero NickelTM, NetZero CobaltTM and NetZero IronTM across several jurisdictions
Key Projects
Canada Nickel’s Crawford Project
Canada Nickel’s flagship Crawford nickel-sulfide project is located in Ontario’s Timmins mining camp, which is home to nearby mining infrastructure including the Kidd Metallurgical Site. The Timmins mining camp has a 100-year history of mining activity.
Crawford is expected to be among the Top 5 nickel sulphide operations globally, based on PEA results
The Crawford property was previously explored by Inco in the 1960s in each large anomaly, with minimal exploration conducted in the following decades. The land package was then owned by a forestry company before being acquired by Noble Mineral Exploration for resource purposes again in 2011. Canada Nickel was founded in September 2019 and acquired Crawford from Noble Mineral Exploration, Spruce Ridge Resources, and some private investors – and began drilling the fifth hole at that time. The company published its initial resource and began trading publicly at the end of February 2020.
On July 6, 2022, the Company announced an updated mineral resource estimate for its 100 percent owned flagship Crawford Nickel Sulphide Project, more than doubling the project’s measured & indicated (M&I) mineral resources, driven in large part by outstanding exploration success in the East Zone. In less than three years from initial discovery, the company believes Crawford has quickly become the fifth largest nickel sulphide resource globally. When combined with the potential for zero carbon production, Crawford is expected to become an important source of nickel for electric vehicle and stainless-steel producers. The Crawford feasibility study continues to be on track for completion by year-end.
District Scale Potential
A substantial new nickel district has been consolidated through 20 transactions to acquire or earn into 15 additional nickel targets42 sq km of ultramafic/mag highs – 50X the scale of 0.85 sq km mag anomaly footprint of Crawford Main Zone (containing 1.84 Mt of M&I nickel and a further 1.21 Mt of inferred nickel)Assays confirm significant discoveries at Reid and Deloro Each target has had some amount of historical work, (in some cases, much more than Crawford did initially) confirming that these targets contain the same serpentinized dunite and/or peridotite that hosts the Crawford mineralization with potential to permanently sequester CO2Eleven target properties have larger footprint than Crawford and eleven are confirmed to contain the same host mineralization as CrawfordAll located in close proximity to existing infrastructure to help minimize carbon footprint
Canada Nickel’s recent district consolidation positions it to become the leader of the third generation of nickel supply – large, scalable, zero carbon potential – located in one of the best mining jurisdictions in the world in proximity to infrastructure.
Sothman: Historical higher grade, shallow resource of approximately 190,000 tons of 1.24 percent nickel (with 300 m strike length), 2.31 percent nickel and 0.19 percent co percent copper over true width of 8.6 m from 41 m;Reid: Current drilling confirms large-scale discovery at Reid – delineated mineralized footprint already 90 percent of the Crawford footprint of 1.6 sq kmFirst assays from Reid achieved target grades across entire core lengthREI21-02: 354 meters of 0.24 percent nickel including 15 m of 0.39 percent nickel and 6 m of 0.57 percent nickelRegional drilling continues to validate geophysical targeting approach highlighting potential from 42 sq km of geophysical targetsFurther confirmation of targeting approach at Deloro, Bannockburn, and Reaume – Latest assays from Deloro include DEL22-05: 394 m of 0.26 percent nickelPotential to unlock a district scale nickel camp with multiple deposits comparable to Crawford.Deloro: Second significant discovery at Deloro confirms targeting approach in newly acquired properties. Assays across entire core length of 487 m of 0.25 percent nickel including 91 m of 0.28 percent nickel. Mineralization successfully defined over 1.1 kms of strike length by 100 to 400 m wide to a depth of 420 m.Midlothian: 0.24 percent nickel over core length of 345 m, including 0.30 percent nickel over 42 m;Mann Southeast: Multiple 3-m intervals of 0.31 to 0.33 percent nickel within 111 m of dunite across entire core lengthMann Northwest: Assay intervals as high as 0.31 percent nickel with Ni, S, Co, PGM grades consistent with CrawfordMann Central: 19 holes have delineated ultramafic mineralization 2,700 m and 690 m wide (select interval assays 0.15 to 0.29 percent nickel)
Bannockburn: Over 600 m of 1.2 km strike length drilled by Grid Metals and Outokumpu. Historical mineral processing work indicated 50 percent+ recovery to 35 percent concentrate, predominantly heazlewoodite
And have high potential “giants” to test:
Reaume (3.3 x 2.1 km) – drilling already outlined serpentenized dunite/peridotite 1.2 km x 900 mAdam McCool (4.6 x 0.8 km) has had a few holes that indicate serpentenized dunite/peridotiteNewmarket: (8.9 x 0.1-0.6km) MAN 35-01 yielded 3 three-metre assays at 47, 71 and 105 m yielded nickel intervals in excess of 0.31 percent nickelAnd a number of other high potential geophysical anomalies (Powell, Stimson, Mortimer, Moody) that – based on the track record of how similar anomalies turned out – have a high likelihood of finding more nickelNew nickel discovery at Reid with larger footprint than flagship Crawford property Main Zone – second hole of new discovery intersected dunite across entire 354 m core length.Assays achieved expected grades over entire core length of 354 m: 0.24 percent nickel including 15 m of 0.39 percent nickel and 6 m of 0.57 percent nickel.Second significant discovery at Deloro confirms targeting approach in newly acquired propertiesAssays across the entire core length of 487 m of 0.25 percent nickel including 91 m of 0.28 percent nickel.Mineralization successfully defined over 1.1 kms of strike length by 100 to 400 m wide
In 2022, Canada Nickel initiated a federal permitting process for the Crawford Nickel project. The company also updated mineral resource estimate more than double the measured and indicated resources to 1.4 billion tonnes at 0.24 percent nickel, plus a further 670 million tonnes of inferred resources at 0.23 percent nickel.
Management Team
Mark Selby – Chairman and CEO
Mark Selby is a founder of Canada Nickel Company and was formerly president & CEO of RNC Minerals (Royal Nickel Corporation) where he led a team that successfully raised over $100 million and advanced the Dumont nickel-cobalt project from initial resource to a fully permitted, construction-ready project. He has held several senior management roles with Quadra Mining, Inco, and Purolator Courier, and was a partner at Mercer Management Consulting.
Since 2001, Selby has been recognized as one of the leading authorities on the nickel market. He graduated from Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) and has also served on the boards of multiple junior mining companies.
Wendy Kauffman – CFO
Wendy Kauffman brings more than twenty-five years of experience leading junior and mid-tier publicly listed mining companies in project financing, capital structuring, capital markets, accounting and internal controls, tax, and financial reporting and public disclosure. Her skills and experience include the completion of a $4-billion finance package for Cobre Panama during her time at Inmet Mining, one of the largest finance packages assembled by a mid-tier mining company. She was also previously the CFO at Khiron Life Sciences Corporation and held CFO and senior finance positions at Pasinex Resources Limited, Primero Mining Corporation and Inmet Mining Corporation. Kauffman holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University and is a chartered professional accountant (CPA, CA).
Steve Balch – VP of Exploration
Steve Balch is an Ontario-registered geoscientist with 32 years of experience in geophysics, specializing in magnetic and electromagnetic methods, but also with experience in large exploration compilations. After working at Inco for six years in the Sudbury Basin and at Voisey’s Bay, Balch joined Aeroquest in 2001 and helped develop the AeroTEM system, focusing on the on-time measurements of the linear triangular waveform. In 2007, Balch founded Triumph Instruments and developed the AirTEM system, a multi-coil helicopter-borne EM system that is now in use in Mexico, China, Canada, and Eastern Europe. Balch has also been active in borehole geophysics and has worked to develop new technology including north-seeking gyros, temperature compensated induction conductivity probes, UAV-based magnetometers, and high sensitivity magnetic gradiometers.
David Smith – Director
David Smith has been senior vice-president, finance and chief financial officer of Agnico Eagle since 2012. He also served as senior vice-president, strategic planning and investor relations. Prior to joining Canada Nickel’s investor relations team in 2005, Smith, a professional engineer, was a mining analyst and held a variety of mining engineering positions in Canada and abroad. He is a chartered director with Sprott Resource Holdings Inc. and is formerly a director at eCobalt Solutions Inc. He holds a B.Sc. (Queen’s University) and M.Sc. in Mining Engineering (University of Arizona).
Mike Cox – Director
Mike Cox has over thirty years of experience in base metal operations with Inco Ltd and Vale SA. He has held a number of senior leadership positions in Europe, Canada and Asia including the oversight of operations which have delivered nickel products to consumers for use in multiple generations of nickel batteries. Most recently, Cox was head of UK and Asian refineries at Vale with responsibility for a portfolio of precious metal and nickel refineries. He is now a managing partner at CoDa Associates, a consultancy that provides a range of advisory services to the corporate and public sectors in Europe and Asia. Cox holds a BSc (Hons) in chemistry and an MBA, both from the University of Glamorgan.
