Canada Nickel has inked a deal to acquire the past producing Texmont mine located between the company’s Deloro and Sothman nickel assets, south of Timmins in Ontario, Canada.
Located 36km south of Timmins, the Texmont property was reported to have a historic resource estimate of 3.2 million tonnes grading 0.9% nickel in 1971.
According to Canada Nickel, a mine and mill with a rated capacity of 500 tons per day operated on the site from 1971 to 1972.
The Canadian mining company’s ongoing drilling operation at the site has yielded preliminary drilling findings that confirm the presence of high-grade mineralisation in ultramafic rock.
The company has drilled four holes at the Texmont mine, wherein the first three have intersected sulphide mineralisation directly below the overburden.
Canada Nickel anticipates a potential restart of an open pit mine by 2025 and to provide a source of higher-grade feed for the Crawford nickel sulphide project.
To secure the property, Canada Nickel has paid C$250,000 ($183,538) in cash and issued a C$3.8m ($2.8m) non-interest bearing promissory note due 14 March 2023.
Upon closing of the transaction, the undisclosed seller would retain a 2% net smelter returns royalty, half of which can be acquired for C$2.5m ($1.84m).
The property has a legacy ownership interest of 15% and 10% net profits interest. However, Canada Nickel needs to determine whether these interests are still valid.
Canada Nickel chair and CEO Mark Selby said: “The acquisition of the Texmont property provides near-term smaller scale production potential and is highly complementary to our large-scale Crawford and regional nickel sulphide projects.
“We are excited by the potential for leveraging the understanding of the geology at Texmont and additional high-grade areas at Sothman and Bannockburn and applying these learnings to our large regional property package.
“In our discussions with nickel consumers for the battery market, many of them are keen to have new nickel production that could come to market by 2025. Similarly, a number of investors have expressed interest in financing near-term production.”
