Talon Metals Corporate Update: Advancing a Secure Domestic Nickel Supply to Meet U.S. Government Requirements
Talon Metals Corporate Update: Advancing a
Secure Domestic Nickel Supply to Meet U.S.
Government Requirements
Tamarack, Minnesota--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2024) - Talon Metals Corp. (TSX: TLO) (OTC Pink:
TLOFF) (
"Talon"
or the
"Company"
), the majority owner and operator of the Tamarack Nickel-Copper-
Cobalt Project ("
Tamarack Nickel Project
") in central Minnesota, the operator of numerous high-grade
nickel-copper prospects in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (
"Michigan UP Projects"
) and the owner
of the proposed Battery Minerals Processing Facility (
"BMPF"
) in Mercer County, North Dakota,
provides a progress update on the Company's activities in all jurisdictions where it operates and national
policy developments that value and favor domestic supply.
Permitting Update: Underground Mine in Central Minnesota
On June 21, 2023, Talon began the rigorous science-based permitting process in the state of Minnesota
by
filing an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) with the Minnesota Department of Natural
Resources (MDNR)
for a small footprint underground mine and rail loading facility near the town of
Tamarack in Aitkin County, Minnesota.
In early 2022, Talon made the decision to move mineral processing to an industrial site in a drier
environment in Mercer County, North Dakota.
This decision was in direct response to concerns in central
Minnesota about processing sulfide bearing ore in the water rich environment of the area where the high-
grade nickel deposit is located. It also means that the state permitting process has a smaller scope of
review, focused just on the environmental impacts of the underground mine and rail loading facility at the
Tamarack site.
The environmental review process is proceeding at pace. Talon has received two rounds of comments
and suggestions from the relevant state agencies, tribal sovereign governments or tribal organizations
who have been invited by the state to participate in the initial process on a government-to-government
basis. Talon has responded to the first round of comments and is developing its responses, data and
design changes that are responsive to the second round of comments and plans to submit these
responses, data and design changes in Q2 of this year.
The iterative nature of the process and the high quality of feedback at this phase of the process allows
Talon to respond with factual answers, data or project changes that avoid, further reduce, or mitigate
impacts on the environment. Talon is focusing on responsiveness to reduced land disturbance, reduced
wetlands impacts, avoidance of contact water and avoidance of exposure of sulfide bearing rock to the
atmosphere.
Talon is using a well-known project management approach called "Integrated Project Development"
(IPD), in conjunction with local and national US engineering and construction firms, which will facilitate an
integrated project management process, and is expected to maintain timelines and prevent or minimize
cost overruns.
Henri van Rooyen, CEO of Talon, said the following about the permitting process:
"The permitting
process in Minnesota is rigorous, science-based, and starts with the environmental review process
that brings together the relevant regulators and tribal sovereign governments to ensure a project is
ready for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process. One real benefit of this first stage of the
process is that it allows the proponent of any project to gain valuable insights from the regulatory
agencies and the participating tribal institutions, which can ensure that the proposer has the right data
to explain a particular aspect or in some cases can lead to design changes that are direct
improvements on previous plans. This may save time in the Environmental Impact Statement drafting
phase and is most likely a preview of issues that would come up in the public comment phases of the
process
.
"
Commenting on Talon's investment in environmental baseline studies and field studies, Talon's Director
of Community and Government Relations, Jessica Johnson said:
"
We have invested in having the
scientific data to contribute to the Environmental Impact Statement process. We are building
Minnesota's largest network of environmental wells, presently collecting baseline data from 68 wells
throughout the surrounding watershed. Out of our team of 15 environmental engineers and scientists,
community team members and data scientists,13 are located locally: This is our backyard too, and we
are committed to ensuring our proposals use the latest science and new approaches to protecting the
natural environment we all enjoy."
Progress on North Dakota Battery Mineral Processing Facility
Talon is also progressing activities in North Dakota to establish the BMPF, of which
US$114.8 million is
funded by a grant from the US Department of Energy
(
"DOE
Funding"
) on a cost-share basis.
Talon is
currently drawing on the DOE Funding in line with its agreement with the Department of Energy. To date,
Talon has applied for US$453,000 in reimbursable funds from the Department of Energy. Talon is in the
final stages of securing an industrial site in Mercer County, North Dakota where the BMPF will be
located. The site is a former industrial site with rail infrastructure suitable for Talon's use and located in
an Energy Community census track as per the DOE Energy Communities map tool
IRA Energy
Community Tax Credit Bonus (doe.gov)
.
Talon is conducting project design activities and working with
the Department of Energy on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review requirements with a
federally funded action. Talon has undertaken a cultural survey of the target site, and the Department of
Energy has initiated its tribal consultation. Talon has now completed various tests that show that any
residual tailings can be stored safely with fly ash and lime, as a cemented dry stack facility.
Harnessing Innovation to Increase Revenue, Compete with China, and Build Public Support
Talon has prioritized using novel technology and new approaches to produce better outcomes. Listening
to communities and taking action to change project planning in fundamental ways (moving processing
and material management to a drier industrial site is just one example). The Company is also focused on
technology that leads to additional mineral recovery in primary targets like nickel, but also recovery of
valuable by-products like cobalt, iron and platinum group metals that are all a source of additional
revenue and address the needs of society. Not attempting to utilize valuable by-products is irresponsible
and not consistent with Talon's goal of "Full Value Mining" or "Full Resource Utilization". Through various
partnerships, Talon sees the potential opportunity to harness additional minerals from the Tamarack ore
body to produce the highest gigawatt per tonne resource.
Key ongoing innovation initiatives, include:
Argonne National Laboratory
: Talon is working with Argonne National laboratory to transform
and purify extracted iron from tailings and nickel and iron sulphide concentrates into a Lithium-Iron-
Phosphate (LFP) material to provide a domestic source of a key ingredient in LFP batteries. If
successful, sales of iron phosphate as a precursor to North American LFP battery makers could
be a valuable source of additional revenue for Talon, address US dependency on China for LFP
inputs, and increase Talon's ratio of batteries per tonne of rock to one of the top levels of any mine
in the world.
Columbia University
: Talon is working with top researchers at Columbia University who were
awarded funding from the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop novel approaches to refining
critical metals concentrate. The process enables additional copper recoveries while improving
nickel concentrate grade by removing iron from the nickel concentrate. A new, greater than 30%,
nickel concentrate was generated, and the removed iron becomes a key ingredient for the LFP
battery process developed by Argonne National Lab (discussed above).
Travertine Technologies:
Travertine Technologies is working on a commercial scale process
that would economically transform tailings and development rock into various marketable by-
products. The process would not only enhance critical metals recovery, such as nickel, cobalt and
iron, but also permanently store carbon as calcium and magnesium carbonates.
MIRARCO:
MIRARCO (Mining Innovation Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corporation) is
working on testing the suitability of integrating a bio-leach process designed to liberate additional
nickel, cobalt and iron from high-sulfur tailings. High-sulfur tails are generated during the cleaning
process of the nickel concentrates. The high-sulfur tails contain a high concentration of iron and a
minor amount of nickel that was previously unrecoverable. The solution from the bio-leach process
could be integrated with the broader flowsheet including the Travertine process, enabling
additional recovery of nickel, cobalt and iron from the Tamarack Nickel Project, and generating
additional carbon storage.
Envicore:
Talon is working with Envicore to develop Supplementary Cementitious Materials
(SCM) from the tails and development rock that is envisioned to be combined with fly ash. SCMs
are materials used as a partial replacement of Portland Cement to improve both fresh and
hardened concrete properties and reduce the carbon footprint of concrete.
Initial test results
indicate that the treated tailings produce an excellent SCM.
Henri van Rooyen, CEO of Talon, commented on Talon's R&D initiatives:
"
Society has the right to
expect the mining industry to obtain every bit of the minerals that are valuable and useful to society.
Letting by-products go to waste as happens in many legacy systems is unacceptable. The US
national labs, US research universities like Columbia and entrepreneurial companies like Travertine
and Envicore are the "secret sauce" that is available to mining companies. Talon intends to take full
advantage, for the benefit of society and our shareholders."
Summary: Right Place, Right Time
Talon's goal is to continue to advance the environmental review process for a small footprint
underground mine and rail loading facility within the Tamarack Nickel Project area, while simultaneously
conducting commensurate pre-feasibility trade-off studies during 2024, to prepare for a feasibility study
in unison with its Environmental Impact Statement.
With the Department of Defense (DOD) funding,
provided through an agreement with the Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment
Prioritization office, exploration has accelerated significantly with the goal of establishing a US nickel
powerhouse across Michigan, Minnesota and North Dakota.
Sean Werger, President of Talon commented:
"While we are rapidly advancing permitting and
engineering in tandem with our Department of Defense mandate to accelerate US exploration for
nickel, we are doing so in a cost-effective way
.
We want Talon to help the United States build up a
secure supply of nickel for clean energy systems and defense platforms. US policy makers on both
sides of the aisle realize we cannot allow China to become a "single member OPEC" for critical
minerals like nickel."
QUALIFIED PERSON
Dr. Etienne Dinel, Vice President, Geology of Talon, is a Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-
101. Dr. Dinel is satisfied that the analytical and testing procedures used are standard industry operating
procedures and methodologies, and he has reviewed, approved and verified the technical information
disclosed in this news release, including sampling, analytical and test data underlying the technical
information.
ABOUT TALON
Talon is a TSX-listed base metals company in a joint venture with
Rio Tinto
on the high-grade
Tamarack
Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Project
located in central Minnesota. Talon's shares are also traded in the US
over the OTC market under the symbol TLOFF. The Tamarack Nickel Project comprises a large land
position (18km of strike length) with additional high-grade intercepts
outside the current resource area
.
Talon has an earn-in right to acquire up to 60% of the Tamarack Nickel Project, and currently owns 51%.
Talon is focused on (i) expanding and infilling its current high-grade nickel mineralization resource
prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 to shape a mine plan for submission to Minnesota regulators,
and (ii) following up on additional high-grade nickel mineralization in the Tamarack Intrusive Complex.
Talon has an agreement with Tesla Inc.
to supply it with 75,000 metric tonnes (165 million lbs) of nickel in
concentrate (and certain by-products, including cobalt and iron) from the Tamarack Nickel Project over
an estimated six-year period once commercial production is achieved. Talon has a
neutrality and
workforce development agreement
in place with the United Steelworkers union. Talon's Battery Mineral
Processing Facility in Mercer County was
selected by the US Department of Energy
for US$114 million
funding grant from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the
US Department of Defense awarded Talon a
grant of US$20.6 million
to support and accelerate Talon's exploration efforts in both Minnesota and
Michigan. Talon has well-qualified experienced exploration, mine development, external affairs and mine
permitting teams.
For additional information on Talon, please visit the Company's website at
www.talonmetals.com
.
Media Contact:
Todd Malan
1-(202)-714-8187
Investor Contact:
Sean Werger
1-(416)-500-9891
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements". All statements, other than statements
of historical fact that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or
anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently
available to the Company. Such forward-looking statements include statements relating to the
environmental review and permitting process and the timing thereof; the completion of an agreement for
an industrial site in Mercer County, North Dakota; the potential for residual tailings to be stored safely as
a cemented dry stack facility; the ability to achieve the goal of "Full Value Mining" or "Full Resource
Utilization" and the ability for the various innovation initiatives to be commercially realized or utilized by
the Company; the potential to attain the highest gigawatt per tonne resource; and the completion of pre-
feasibility trade-off studies during 2024. Forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks and
uncertainties and other factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those
discussed in the forward-looking statements, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially
realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the
Company.
Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be
required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise.
Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are
reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue
reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit
https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/204750