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Canada Nickel Company, a northeastern Ontario spinoff of Noble Mineral Exploration, goes live on the TSX Venture Exchange on Feb. 27.
Thie new venture is built around developing the Crawford nickel-cobalt sulphide project, 40 kilometres north of Timmins, into a potential mine.
The Crawford Project sits within Noble Mineral's massive 78,527-hectare Project 81 holdings, next to the Kidd Creek Mine Complex. The entire property covers 14 townships and hosts gold, nickel, cobalt and base metals at various stages of exploration.
Noble created Canada Nickel last October for the sole purpose of advancing the Crawford project toward an eventual mine development.
Noble shareholders approved the establishment of this spinoff in late December.
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The corporate messaging with the Crawford Project is that the burgeoning electric vehicle and stainless markets will drive the demand for new mines from politically low-risk global sources of nickel and cobalt over the next decade.
"This is an exciting time to be launching an entirely new pure play nickel-cobalt company as the global demand for electric vehicle battery components shifts into high gear," said Mark Selby, Canada Nickel's chair and CEO, in a Feb. 26 news release.
“We believe that our Crawford Nickel-Cobalt project could be one of the only new nickel projects globally with large scale potential."
Selby, well known for his executive stints with Quadra and Inco, is recognized as a leading authority on the nickel market.
Before joining Canada Nickel last October, he ran RNC Minerals and led the effort to bring the Dumont nickel-cobalt project in Quebec through the permitting process to the construction-ready stage.
Inco first discovered nickel in the area during the 1960s as part of an exploration program that covered several townships north of the Kidd Mine.
The discovery of nickel sulphide on the Crawford project was made in 2018.
The company raised $6.5 million for exploration last fall and drilled off a resource measuring a 1.4 kilometre strike length by 350 to 600 metres wide by up to 500 metres deep.
A resource estimate is due out by the end of the first quarter, followed by the launch into a preliminary economic assessment by the end of September. The start of a feasibility study for a potential mine begins sometime in 2021.
Selby said they have a team in place that knows how to develop large-scale nickel-cobalt projects.
"With exploration activities well underway, we expect a steady stream of news flow."
Canada Nickel's common shares trade under the symbol TSX-V:CNC.
"Trading our shares on the TSX Venture Exchange will raise Canada Nickel's profile by diversifying our shareholder base and enhancing share liquidity in support of our company's long-term objectives," said Selby.
