Noble Mineral Exploration is creating a new company to focus on its Timmins-area Crawford nickel-cobalt sulphide project.
The firm announced the formation of the Canada Nickel Company on Oct. 1, noting that Mark Selby would act as chair and CEO of the new enterprise.
Noble said it would also complete a fully subscribed $5-million private placement into Canada Nickel, which will fund the cost of the Crawford project consolidation and continue exploration and mineralogical work to advance the project.
The offering is expected to close on or before Oct. 15.
“I am very proud of the team that made the Crawford nickel discovery, which is one of the few nickel discoveries in many years with large-scale potential,” said Vance White, president and CEO of Noble, in a news release.
“With the planned consolidation of ownership in Crawford and private placement, Canada Nickel is well-positioned for the next exciting phase of growth and value creation for Noble shareholders.”
Selby most recently served as president and CEO of RNC Minerals, where he led the development of the Dumont nickel-cobalt project through to a fully permitted, construction-ready project. Prior to serving in that position, he held senior management roles at Quadra and INCO, and he is recognized as a leading authority on the nickel market.
“I am pleased to lead Canada Nickel and advance Crawford, which is an exciting project,” Selby said in the release.
“Coupled with the close proximity to significant infrastructure near Timmins, I believe this will allow me to leverage all the experience and insights we learned in advancing Dumont.”
RNC Minerals’ Dumont nickel project, located in Quebec, contains 6.1 billion pounds of nickel in the proven and probable reserve categories (a proven and probable reserve of 1,028 million tonnes at 0.27 per cent nickel) and 9.75 billion pounds of nickel resources in the measured and indicated category (a measured resource of 372 million tonnes at 0.28 per cent nickel and an indicated resource of 1.29 billion tonnes at 0.26 per cent nickel).
Noble has said that the nickel and cobalt grades at Crawford have been higher than those from Dumont, and the Crawford property also contains measurable amounts of platinum group elements (PGEs).
The company called the timing of the Crawford discovery “excellent,” as nickel is in high demand for its use in the electric vehicle market.
Located 40 kilometres north of Timmins, the Crawford property is part of Noble’s Project 81 holdings.
Spruce Ridge Resources, Noble’s joint venture partner, started a 4,000-metre drill program at the Crawford property in September.
