Timmins mine builder Canada Nickel has swung two land deals to create a new exploration outfit while creating some elbow room around where it wants to dig out the Crawford mine, northeast of the city.
The company announced it’s signed two definitive agreements this week, one of which is a yet-to-be-named exploration outfit made up of grassroots properties with some upside potential.
This separate spinoff company allows Canada Nickel to focus its efforts on financing and securing approvals to bring its proposed Crawford open-pit mine project into operation. Canada Nickel is leaning toward making a construction decision to press forward some time this year.
On the exploration side, Canada Nickel said it’s placing certain properties in some nearby townships into a side venture with Noble Mineral Exploration to consolidate each company’s respective interests. Canada Nickel and Noble already a have joint venture going on at their Mann property where they’ve been drilling for nickel, copper and other minerals.
First announced back in July, Canada Nickel will own 80 per cent of this new entity with Noble owning the remaining 20 per cent.
The transaction closes Jan. 31.
The second agreement is a land option deal with an unknown party described in a news release only as the “surface rights holder.”
The deal would deliver 32,000 acres to Canada Nickel to create sufficient room to build the Crawford mine. In return, Canada Nickel will transfer 5.5 million shares to the surface rights holder and flip them almost 48,000 acres of mining rights in two townships. The option can be exercised on Dec. 31, 2026.
In a Jan. 7 news release, Canada Nickel CEO Mark Selby suggests the land being transferred could be used by the new rights holder for non-mining purposes, such as the development of sustainable forestry and wildlife habitat preservation.
Overall, Selby called the announcement “another critical step” on the path to complete its permitting on Crawford before construction starts.
“We are proud of our progress in unlocking the potential of the Crawford project and the Timmins Nickel District, building a future that benefits the environment and supports future generations."
Canada Nickel claims Crawford could be the second largest nickel reserve in the world after Norilsk in Russia. As an open-pit mine, it would be a large tonnage, low-grade operation. First production at Crawford could conceivably occur at the end of 2027.
