Canada Nickel Announces Integration of Carbon Capture & Storage into Crawford Nickel Sulphide Project
Canada Nickel Announces Integration of
Carbon Capture & Storage into Crawford Nickel Sulphide Project
Highlights
• Latest test work confirms ability to incorporate carbon capture and storage into Crawford
project plant design
• Crawford Nickel Project has potential to become sole large scale carbon storage facility in
Ontario and one of largest facilities in Canada
• Integrated Feasibility Study expected to be released in second quarter
TORONTO, January 4, 2023 – Canada Nickel Company Inc. ("Canada Nickel" or the "Company") (TSXV:CNC)
(OTCQX:CNIKF) today announced th at 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 Co mpany 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 im pact 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 co nsidered 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 ch ange. The Company is exploring its eligibility for tax credits as
well as other government funding programs related to the C ritical 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.”
IPT Carbonation – Crawford Nickel Project
Canada Nickel’s Crawford Project is hosted in ultramafic rock, which naturally absorbs and sequesters CO2.
The potential to actively capture and sequester carbon was a key consideration in Canada Nickel’s
acquisition of the 42 km2 of target ultramafic rocks in the Timmins area which could anchor a zero-carbon
industrial cluster in Timmins. Canada Nickel has developed a simple active process that utilizes tailings as
generated in the milling process and injects a concentrated source of CO2 for a brief period of time. This
novel process fo r accelerated mineral carbonation is called In Process Tailings Carbonation or IPT
Carbonation, which fixes CO2 geologically while the tailings are still in the processing circuit, rather than
after they have been finally deposited.
The Company believes that, given its relative simplicity, this process could be scaled up with availability
of concentrated (rather than atmospheric) sources of CO2. This CO2 could potentially be delivered by
downstream processing of Crawford concentrates, a wide range of industrial processing activities, green
hydrogen production, or carbon capture facilities. The process demonstrates the potential to produce
NetZero NickelTM and NetZero CobaltTM for the EV industry, NetZero IronTM and chromium for the stainless
steel industry and generate substantial carbon credits during the process. The Company believes that the
need for a concentrated source of CO2 for this process and the substantial CO2 capture and storage
capacity potential of its ultramafic land position could form the basis for an entire Zero Carbon Industrial
Cluster in the Timmins-Cochrane region.
The latest results from further lab scale testing at Kingston Process Metallurgy (“KPM”) confirmed that a
blend of tailings expected to be produced by Crawford and thickened to an expected operating tailings
density could be successfully carbonated with the IPT Carbonation process - it is a significant result to
demonstrate the process at higher solids densities as the pulp density and the tailings residence time will
be a key driver of the process capital and operating costs. The testing also attempted to understand what
ultimate carbon capture potential is possible and the test resulted in 37 tonnes of CO2 captured per tonne
of nickel – 34 tonnes of that amount was captured within 2 5 hours. The 37 tonne figure is believed to
represent a potential maximum and there is no certainty that such amount could be achieved in
commercial operation (See Figure 1).
Figure 1. Carbon Capture using the IPT Carbonation Process
1 This test was designed to evaluate the maximum carbon capture potential of the tailings and it is not certain if these results
can be achieved commercially. If this level of CO 2 capture was achieved commercially at Crawford, this would equate to an
average of 1.1 million tonnes of CO2 capture per year or a total of 27 million tonnes of CO2 capture over the PEA life of mine.
Qualified Person and Data Verification
Arthur G. Stokreef, P.Eng (ON), Manager of Process Engineering & Geometallurgy and a “qualified person”
as s uch term is defined by National Instrument 43 -101, has 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-sulphide projects to deliver nickel
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 Nickel ™, NetZero Cobalt™ and NetZero
Iron™ 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 % 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.
For further information, please contact:
Mark Selby, Chair and CEO
Phone: 647-256-1954
Email: [email protected]
Cautionary Note and 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
near-term production potential of the Texmont property, the carbon capture approach could allow
production of Net Zero nickel and generation of an additional tonnes of CO 2 credits per tonne of nickel
produced after offsetting all emissions, the potential to turn nickel mine into a generator of carbon credits
rather than generator of carbon emissions, the production of estimated average of 710,000 tonnes of
carbon credits a nnually and 18 million total tonnes of CO 2 of credits over expected life of mine at
Crawford, the ability to monetize carbon credits, the ability to quantify carbon capture, emission
estimates, the brucite content of the deposit, the scalability of the process, the metallurgical results, the
timing and results of the feasibility study including the viability of the inclusion of the IPT Carbonation
Process and related facilities as part of the project , 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 assessmen ts, 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, th e
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 affe ct 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 o f 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 applicable laws; changes in p roject 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 requi red 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.