Canada Nickel Company Inc. (TSXV:CNC) (OTCQX:CNIKF) today announced that test work for its novel carbon storage process, In-Process Tailings (“IPT”) Carbonation, is demonstrating results that are significantly above expectations.
The Company also announced that its Integrated Feasibility Study (“IFS”) is expected to be released in September, following the completion of final engineering design for IPT Carbonation. All other engineering work for the Crawford feasibility study has been successfully completed.
Bottom Line
- Carbon Capture testing continues to exceed expectations, both on time and the amount of carbon that can be stored. Canada Nickel’s tech can store 7x more carbon than traditional methods and in 1% of the time (7 hours vs 100 days)
Source: Canada Nickel - Crawford is on track to be the lowest emissions primary nickel mine in the world.
- This carbon capture technology will qualify Canada Nickel for significant government tax credits, potentially funding the entire equity portion of the project’s startup capital. Less equity means less stock issuance.
- IPT Carbonation testing was conducted on rock samples with the same characteristics as the main deposit, increasing the probability carbon capture will work at scale.
- The Crawford project alone could achieve 7% of Canada’s entire carbon removal goal making it a key asset for government leaders.
Canada Nickel CEO, Mark Selby commented:
Canada Nickel’s Crawford Project is hosted in ultramafic rock, which naturally absorbs and sequesters CO2. Canada Nickel has developed the novel IPT Carbonation process which involves injecting a concentrated source of CO2 into tailings generated by the milling process for a brief period of time. This simple process captures CO2 geologically in the tailings while they are still in the processing circuit, rather than after they
have been finally deposited.
Mr. Selby continued:
Access to the required testing facilities for pilot scale tests to confirm the engineering design for IPT Carbonation has been delayed to this summer and as a result, the integrated feasibility study for the project is now expected to be delivered in September 2023. This delay has no impact on the overall timeline to production as the Company continues to target receipt of permits by mid-2025 with construction to follow. Permitting remains on-track and good progress is being made through the second stage of the federal permitting process.
Mr. Selby continued:
The Company believes that the successful incorporation of IPT Carbonation could potentially allow a portion of the Company’s project capital expenditures to become eligible for the carbon capture and storage refundable investment tax credits of 37.5% to 60% for years 2022-2030 and 18.75% to 30% for years 2031-2040, as announced in the 2022 federal budget.
The interest received from multiple large multinational companies pursuing carbon storage solutions further supports the Company’s belief that the mineral sequestration utilized by the Company may be considered an effective carbon storage
approach that would meet Environment and Climate Change Canada requirements.
Mr. Selby concluded:
IPT Carbonation Test Work
In the current phase of test work, Canada Nickel has conducted a series of variability tests to establish the IPT Carbonation Process engineering design criteria and develop predictive CO2 storage models. The results have exceeded expectations. Testing was done on samples based on their brucite content as well as their location within the deposit with a bias towards material that is expected to be processed in the initial project phases. The results received to date have confirmed the ability to store more than one million tonnes of CO2 per year.
Qualified Person and Data Verification
Arthur G. Stokreef, P.Eng (ON), Manager of Process Engineering & Geometallurgy and a “qualified person” as such term is defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release on behalf of Canada Nickel Company Inc.
