Company plans to mine Kenora-area nickel deposit in three years

A Toronto exploration company is projecting it will begin mining its Kenbridge Nickel Project, south of Kenora, in three years.

Tartisan Nickel made that statement in a recent news release as it enters the second phase of an environmental baseline study at the project site, 70 kilometres southeast of Kenora and 10 kilometres east of Sioux Narrows.

The company said these studies are critical in the government permitting and approvals process in order to bring an advanced stage exploration project into commercial production.

Kenbridge is a former Falconbridge nickel deposit that Tartisan wants to bring into production. In mid-July, the company released a preliminary economy assessment (PEA) projecting a nine-year mine with production of 52.6 million pounds of nickel and 30.7 million of copper over that span.

“Baseline studies continue at the Kenbridge Nickel Project and signify the company’s commitment to an approximate three years to production timeline,” said Tartisan CEO Mark Appleby in a statement.

“The company is continuing to review and implement all necessary steps in the permitting and mining approval process. The recently announced PEA results outlined robust economics and significant value of the Kenbridge Nickel Project.”

This next phase of baseline work delves into fisheries studies on creeks and lakes around the project, surface and ground water quality sampling, stream flowing monitoring, and archaeological and geochemistry assessments.

Underground mine infrastructure was constructed by Falconbridge and the area was briefly mined in the 1950s by the company. Tartisan said in its release that Kenbridge has a 622-meter three compartment shaft with two underground level workstations.

Kenbridge is Tartisan’s main asset. The company also operates the Sill Lake Silver Property near Sault Ste, Marie and the Don Pancho Manganese-Zinc-Lead-Silver Project in Peru.