We had the pleasure of speaking with Terry Lynch, CEO of Power Nickel Inc. (TSXV: PNPN) (OTCBB: PNPNF) to learn more about the company and their big polymetallic discovery in Quebec, Canada.
History
In 2021, Power Nickel (then called Chilean Metals) completed the acquisition of its option to acquire up to 80% of the NISK project from Critical Elements Lithium Corp. (TSXV:CRE). Over time, Power Nickel exercised its option to acquire 50% of the NISK Project and delivered notice to Critical Elements that it intends to exercise its second option to bring its ownership to 80%.
The NISK property contains two distinct high grade mineralized zones. They are separated by 5.5 Kilometres. The operating thesis is that these mineralized areas are connected sub-surface, creating a potentially huge, mineralized area.
The initial discovery NISK Main featuring high-grade class-1 nickel with intercepts including 18.5m of 2.00% NiEQ and 26.6m of 1.98% NiEQ. The Lion Discovery highlights multiple 10 Meter Plus zones with Copper ranging as high as 8%, PGMs in excess of 22 g/t, Gold In excess of 1.6 g/t and Silver in excess of 69 g/t.
The Economic Power of Polymetallics
In large polymetallic discoveries like NISK, the largest metal recovered by weight typically doesn’t end up as the majority revenue stream. With Power Nickel, nickel is most likely the largest metal in their project. However, there will be a split of metals; ~30 to 40% copper, ~30% nickel, and then other noble metals for example gold, silver, platinum and other PGM elements and paying minerals.
The World’s Top Polymetallic Geoscientist gets On Board
Dr. Steve Beresford is one of the top polymetallic geoscientists in the world, he was the former Chief Geo at First Quantum, MMG and IGO. Dr. Beresford has been on the hunt for the next giant polymetallic deposit, as these deposits are rare to find and typically have the highest value of metals – for example the world’s most valuable mine is Norilsk.
Terry reached out to Dr. Beresford after the stellar drill results from NISK, and he confirmed that in fact this was a rare polymetallic deposit with giant potential. Power Nickel then brought Dr. Beresford onto the team as a technical advisor, a clear validation of the opportunity ahead.
Early Interest from Big Investors
The company recently closed C$20 million oversubscribed financing round, backed by mining investor legends Robert Friedland and Rob McEwen. Terry shared that Friedland hadn’t seen copper and PGMs like Power Nickel’s in his career and the company is onto something exciting which has brought him to the table. McEwen is also an investor and has a track record of getting into great projects like Great Bear, so Power Nickel is in great company.
Tailwinds Ahead
Terry believes there’s significant upside ahead for the company as they prove out size and value the polymetallic resource. Power Nickel trades at a fraction of where other comparable pollymetallics are currently trading. In his view, their costs are so low that their future nickel production will be able to outcompete Indonesian imports into North America. There’s plenty of upside for a nickel sulphide project that will benefit significantly from the proposed tax breaks and subsidies associated with Canada’s Critical Metals Strategy.
