Canada Nickel’s ninth resource lifts holdings to 4.3B tonnes in Timmins district

An updated resource for Canada Nickel’s (TSXV: CNC) Deloro project adds 1.55 million global contained tonnes of nickel while an initial resource for Nesbitt adds 410,000 contained tonnes, its ninth target in the Timmins district of Ontario.

The Deloro update outlines 118.7 million indicated tonnes grading 0.25% nickel for 300,300 tonnes contained nickel, a 46% increase over the initial resource from 2024, the company reported Thursday. Inferred resources total 498.2 million tonnes at 0.25% nickel for 1.2 million tonnes, a 39% rise in contained metal. Deloro is about 8 km south of Timmins and 550 km north of Toronto.

“We have now clearly demonstrated the world-class potential of the Timmins nickel district with the completion of our ninth resource at Nesbitt,” Canada Nickel CEO Mark Selby said in a release. “The expansion at Deloro shows the potential to continue to expand our existing resources beyond where they stand today.”

Huge nickel endowment

The resource results strengthen Canada Nickel’s case that its main Crawford project could anchor a much larger Timmins nickel district, where the company’s nine deposits now host 4.36 billion measured and indicated tonnes grading 0.24% nickel.

Canada Nickel shares gained 1% to $1.49 apiece mid-day Thursday, for a market capitalization of $365.7 million. The stock has traded in a 12-month range of 77¢ to $2.59.

926,000 contained tonnes

The initial resource for Nesbitt, located just 3 km from the main Crawford project, outlines 24.5 million indicated tonnes grading 0.23% nickel for 575,000 contained tonnes of metal. Inferred resources come to 152.1 million tonnes at 0.23% nickel for 351,000 tonnes.

The Nesbitt resource is contained in two open pits referred to as West and East, the company said. The Deloro and Nesbitt resources are based on about 18,500 metres of drilling across 49 holes. 

Crawford, which on Tuesday advanced to the final state of federal environmental review, has an initial life of 41 years, according to a 2023 feasibility study. It could produce 3.5 billion lb. of nickel, around 53 million lb. of cobalt, 490,000 oz. of palladium and platinum, 58 million tonnes of iron and 6.2 million lb. of chromium, Its deposit gives it the world’s second-largest reserves of nickel.

Crawford is the only project in the country to gain fast track status from both a province and Ottawa, after Prime Minister Mark Carney referred it to the Major Projects Office in November.

It’s also the second project picked for the 1P1P program after Frontier Lithium’s (TSXV: FL; US-OTC: LITOF) PAK project in northwestern Ontario was added in October.