Highlights:
- Flowsheet improvements yield recovery gains and enhanced
magnetite concentrate quality (all figures below relative to
Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") model)
-
- Nickel recovery of 62% – 10 percentage points or 19%
improvement
- Iron recovery of 45% - 2 percentage points or 5%
improvement
- Magnetite concentrate grade of 54% iron – 6.5 percentage points
or 14% improvement
- Cobalt recovery of 70% - 30 percentage points or 75%
improvement
TORONTO, Oct. 5, 2021 /CNW/ - Canada Nickel Company Inc.
("Canada Nickel" or the "Company") (TSXV: CNC) (OTCQX: CNIKF) is
pleased to announce substantial metallurgical improvements that
deliver increased recoveries of nickel, iron and cobalt, as well as
enhanced iron magnetite concentrate quality, at its 100%
owned Crawford Nickel Sulphide Project.
Mark Selby, Chair and CEO said,
"I am very pleased with this step change in metallurgical
performance that our team has unlocked during this phase of
flowsheet optimization. The nickel recovery is substantially
higher than the 4-5 percentage point improvement in nickel recovery
the Company is targeting for the feasibility study. The
improvement in grade and recovery of iron in the magnetite
concentrate that has already been unlocked is excellent. I
cannot underscore enough the importance of these results, as we
believe all of these improvements provide additional value to the
project and each percentage point improvement in nickel recovery
would yield a US$92 million
improvement in the value of the NPV8% of the project,
based on the PEA metrics."
Mr. Selby continued, "Additionally, we continue to aggressively
advance on the work programs to complete an updated Crawford
resource and feasibility study. We have 5 drill rigs at site
– 2 of which recently began geotechnical drilling to support the
feasibility study. Our infill drilling at Crawford and
exploration drilling programs remain inline with our
expectations. Unfortunately, assay results remain very
delayed with results from one provider now 16 weeks delayed."
Flowsheet Development program
A key focus of the
feasibility study activities is the continued improvement in
flowsheet performance given its potential to add significant value
to the project, particularly as less than one year of work had been
completed on the project before results of the PEA were announced
on May 25, 2021.
The locked cycle test ("LCT") conducted at XPS Expert Process
Solutions, a Glencore Company ("XPS"), was the first LCT completed
since releasing the PEA. The LCT was completed to measure the
impact of flowsheet improvements made over the past four months.
The sample selected for testing was a pentlandite dominant sample
with a nickel head grade of 0.35%, an iron head grade of 6.0% and a
sulphur to nickel ratio of 1.1. This sample was
selected because it is a representative sample of what is expected
to be processed in Phase 1 of mill operation.
The flowsheet utilized in this test included changes to
reagents, grind sizes, and position of magnetic separation in the
flowsheet. No further details are being provided at this time
as the Company believes these improvements are a proprietary
competitive advantage.
Table 1 – Locked Cycle Test - Summary of Results Compared to
the PEA Model
|
LCT Recovery
(%)
|
LCT Concentrate
Grades (%)
|
Nickel
Concentrate
|
Magnetite
Concentrate
|
|
Ni
|
Co
|
Fe
|
Cr
|
Ni
|
Co
|
Fe
|
Fe
|
Cr
|
Actual
|
62
|
70
|
45
|
21
|
13
|
0.9
|
39
|
54
|
4.5
|
Modelled
|
52
|
40
|
43
|
27
|
12
|
-
|
-
|
47.5
|
3.3
|
Difference
|
+10%
|
+30%
|
+2%
|
-6%
|
+1%
|
-
|
-
|
+6.5%
|
+1.2%
|
As expected, 100% of the nickel recovery in the flotation
concentrate reported to the Standard Concentrate product because
pentlandite was the primary nickel sulfide mineral in this
sample. The nickel concentrate grade of 13% is 1% higher than
our target 12% grade for this product and the cobalt grade was 0.9%
(no target in PEA). The iron and MgO content of the flotation
concentrate was 39% and 7% respectively. PGM assays are pending.
The iron content of the flotation concentrate represented 11
percentage points of the 45% overall iron recovery and 1 percentage
point of the overall 21% chromium recovery.
Table 2 – Locked Cycle Test – Magnetite Concentrate
Quality
LCT Magnetite
Concentrate Grades (%)
|
Fe
|
Cr
|
Ni
|
MgO
|
Co
|
S
|
54
|
4.5
|
0.13
|
10
|
0.008
|
0.15
|
The iron grade of 54% is a substantial improvement over the
modelled grade of the 47.5% iron utilized in the PEA. The
chromium grade of 4.5% is higher than the 3.3% chromium grade that
was modelled in the PEA and the chromium recovery of 21% was lower
than target recovery in the PEA of 27%. Of the nickel
recovery, 1% was reported to the magnetite concentrate. Given
the nickel and chromium content of this magnetite concentrate, it
is expected to be utilized in the production of stainless steel and
other alloys where the nickel and chromium are a valuable feed.
As cobalt was not a payable metal in the PEA, it was not a
priority during the PEA flowsheet development and optimization
work. As it is expected to be a payable metal in the
feasibility study, improvements in cobalt recovery are also a key
focus of flowsheet development. Cobalt recovery was
materially improved to 70% (versus of an expected target of 40% in
the PEA) to the nickel concentrate which graded 0.9% cobalt.
Before completing the LCT, flowsheet improvements were first
demonstrated in open circuit tests on a range of samples from
across Crawford with head grades between 0.30 – 0.43% Ni and range
of mineral compositions. The open circuit tests demonstrated an
increase of at least 6 percentage points in nickel recovery and
average increases in nickel and cobalt recoveries to the flotation
concentrates of 9% and 17% respectively (See Table 3 and Figure 1
below). This result does not include the contribution of
nickel from the magnetite concentrate, as this circuit was still
under development during some of these tests. For three out of the
four samples, modelled nickel recovery was achieved in the
flotation circuit alone without any contribution from the magnetite
concentrate.
Table 3 – Open Circuit Tests – Comparison of New Flowsheet
versus PEA Flowsheet
Summary of Flotation Recovery for Nickel and Cobalt
|
Ore
Domain
|
Head
Grade
|
Nickel
Flotation
Recovery
|
Cobalt
Flotation
Recovery
|
|
Ni
|
S
|
S/Ni
|
Before
|
After
|
Diff.
|
Before
|
After
|
Diff.
|
Sample 1
|
HGC
|
0.30
|
0.11
|
0.37
|
26
|
42
|
+ 16
|
30
|
60
|
+ 30
|
LCT Sample
|
HGC
|
0.31
|
0.30
|
0.97
|
53
|
60
|
+ 7
|
62
|
80
|
+ 18
|
Sample 3
|
HGC
|
0.38
|
0.25
|
0.66
|
46
|
52
|
+ 6
|
51
|
60
|
+ 9
|
Sample 4
|
HGC
|
0.43
|
0.26
|
0.60
|
56
|
62
|
+ 6
|
41
|
53
|
+ 12
|
|
|
|
|
|
Average
|
+ 9
|
Average
|
+
17
|
For further details, including key assumptions, parameters and
methods used to estimate the results of the PEA, and data
verification, please refer the "Crawford Nickel-Sulphide Project
National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report and Preliminary
Economic Assessment", with an Effective Date of May 21, 2021, as filed July 12, 2021, and available for viewing on the
Company's website www.canadanickel.com.
Next Steps in Flowsheet Development
Metallurgical test
work through the remainder of 2021 will focus on finalizing a
flowsheet for the Feasibility Study which is expected to be
completed in 2022.
The Company will continue the flowsheet development work through
the balance of the year and is continuing to target improvements in
both recovery and quality of the concentrates.
Nickel recovery from the slimes circuit was not included in the
reported results and represents a further opportunity to improve
flowsheet performance. The nickel recovery in the slimes
concentrate was 3.4% with a corresponding grade of 3.3% Ni. This
stream has the potential be in combined into the main flotation
circuit and be upgraded to further increase nickel recovery.
Qualified Person and Data Verification
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 Company
Inc.
About Canada Nickel
Canada Nickel Company Inc. is advancing the next generation of
nickel-cobalt sulphide projects to deliver nickel and cobalt
required to feed the high growth electric vehicle and stainless
steel markets. Canada Nickel Company has applied in multiple
jurisdictions to trademark the terms NetZero NickelTM, NetZero
CobaltTM, NetZero IronTM 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 and cobalt in low political risk jurisdictions.
Canada Nickel is currently anchored by its 100% owned flagship
Crawford Nickel-Cobalt Sulphide Project in the heart of the
prolific Timmins-Cochrane mining camp. For more information,
please visit www.canadanickel.com.
Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward Looking
Statements
This press release contains certain information
that may constitute "forward-looking information" under applicable
Canadian securities legislation. Forward looking information
includes, but is not limited to, the metallurgical results, the
timing and results of the feasibility study, the results of
Crawford's PEA, including statements relating to net present value,
future production, estimates of cash cost, proposed mining plans
and methods, mine life estimates, cash flow forecasts, metal
recoveries, estimates of capital and operating costs, timing for
permitting and environmental assessments, realization of mineral
resource estimates, capital and operating cost estimates, project
and life of mine estimates, ability to obtain permitting by the
time targeted, size and ranking of project upon achieving
production, economic return estimates, the timing and amount of
estimated future production and capital, operating and exploration
expenditures and potential upside and alternatives. Readers should
not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results,
performance or achievements of Canada Nickel to be materially
different from any future results, performance or achievements
expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. The PEA
results are estimates only and are based on a number of
assumptions, any of which, if incorrect, could materially change
the projected outcome. There are no assurances that Crawford will
be placed into production. Factors that could affect the outcome
include, among others: the actual results of development
activities; project delays; inability to raise the funds necessary
to complete development; general business, economic, competitive,
political and social uncertainties; future prices of metals or
project costs could differ substantially and make any
commercialization uneconomic; availability of alternative nickel
sources or substitutes; actual nickel recovery; conclusions of
economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans
continue to be refined; accidents, labour disputes, the
availability and productivity of skilled labour and other risks of
the mining industry; political instability, terrorism, insurrection
or war; delays in obtaining governmental approvals, necessary
permitting or in the completion of development or construction
activities; mineral resource estimates relating to Crawford could
prove to be inaccurate for any reason whatsoever; additional but
currently unforeseen work may be required to advance to the
feasibility stage; and even if Crawford goes into production, there
is no assurance that operations will be profitable.
Although Canada Nickel has attempted to identify important
factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to
differ materially from those described in forward-looking
statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events
or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended.
Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date
of this news release and Canada Nickel disclaims any obligation to
update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or results or otherwise, except as
required by applicable securities laws.
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SOURCE Canada Nickel Company Inc.