Highlights:
• Second locked cycle test confirms recovery gains, improved concentrate quality from latest flowsheet improvements
• Total nickel recovery of 63% from low nickel feed grade of 0.19% nickel
• Nickel sulphide concentrate grade of 46% nickel, believed to be highest grade nickel sulphide concentrate produced in locked cycle test based on published studies
TORONTO, February 15, 2022 – Canada Nickel Company Inc. (“Canada Nickel” or the “Company”) (TSXV:CNC) (OTCQX:CNIKF) today announced further metallurgical results at its 100% owned Crawford Nickel Sulphide Project which delivered what the Company believes is the highest nickel sulphide concentrate grade from a locked cycle test.
The test results also confirm the newest flowsheet improvements, incorporated as part of metallurgical variability testing for the feasibility study, can deliver improved recoveries and improved concentrate quality.
Mark Selby, Chair and CEO said, “I am very pleased with the first two tests achieving nickel recoveries in excess of 60%. This latest test is further confirmation of both significant recovery and excellent nickel sulphide concentrate grades particularly from a low-grade sample. Results from this latest phase of testing are indicating that we can achieve grades of 40-50% for the high grade nickel concentrate, well above the current 35% target for this product. While we will test a broad range of samples during the upcoming phase of feasibility study work and expect a range of recovery results from 30% to 60+%, this second locked cycle test further demonstrates the potential to deliver improvements in nickel recovery substantially higher than the 4-5 percentage point improvement in nickel recovery the Company is targeting for the feasibility study. Each percentage point of improvement in nickel recovery would yield a US$92 million improvement in the value of the NPV8% of the project, based on the Preliminary Economic Analysis (“PEA”) metrics.”
Mr. Selby continued, “Additionally, the Company has continued to make further additions to its land holdings in the Timmins district and continues to make good progress with the strategic investor process for which the process is expected to be successfully concluded during the first quarter.. The Company has also set its date for its annual general meeting.”
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. Since releasing the PEA, two phases of optimization work have been completed: Phase 1 focused on increasing recoveries, while Phase 2 has focused on increasing concentrate quality at increased recovery. The conditions and flowsheet used in this test reflect optimizations for both concentrate quality and recovery.
This locked cycle test (“LCT”) used the optimized flowsheet which the company expects to take forward into the next phase of metallurgical testing for the feasibility study. The test was conducted at XPS Expert Process Solutions, a Glencore Company (“XPS”), and was the second LCT completed since releasing the PEA. The LCT was completed to measure the impact of flowsheet improvements made over the past eight months. The sample selected for testing was a lower grade heazlewoodite (Ni3S2) dominant sample which also contained small amounts of awaruite (Ni3Fe). The head grades for the sample were 0.19% nickel, 0.07% sulphur, and 7.7% iron. This sample was selected to test the robustness of the current flowsheet on a lower grade sample from the deposit.
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.
As expected, 100% of the nickel recovery in the flotation concentrate reported to the High Grade Concentrate product because heazlewoodite and awaruite were the primary minerals in this sample. The nickel concentrate grade of 46% is 11 percentage points higher than our target 35% grade for this product. The iron and MgO content of the flotation concentrate was 7.3% and 13% respectively. PGM assays are pending for this test.
As anticipated, the cobalt recovery for this sample was low because cobalt does not typically associate with the minerals heazlewoodite and awaruite.
The results of the previous released locked cycle test were reported in the news release dated October 5, 2021.
The magnetite concentrate from the current test had an iron grade of 51%, which is a substantial improvement over the modelled grade of the 47.5% iron utilized in the PEA. The chromium grade of 1.2% is lower than the 3.3% chromium grade that was modelled in the PEA and the chromium recovery of 17% was lower than target recovery in the PEA of 27%. Of the total nickel recovery of 63%, 7 percentage points of the total recovery 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.
Figure 1 summarizes the recovery results for the two locked cycle tests as well as five open circuit tests which were completed with various phases of flowsheet improvements since the PEA.
The open circuit test recovery results, which ranged from 42% to 62% on samples with nickel head grades between 0.22% to 0.43% nickel do not include any recovery of nickel to the magnetite concentrate.
Sample Location
This sample was taken from drill hole CR21-175 from the North Low Grade Zone of the Crawford East Zone.
Next Steps in Flowsheet Development
Metallurgical test work through the remainder of 2022 will focus on finalizing and evaluating a flowsheet for the Feasibility Study which is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2022.
Nickel recovery from the slimes circuit was not included in the reported results and represents a further opportunity to improve flowsheet performance and will be evaluated during this phase of feasibility work.
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.
