Canada Nickel’s Reid deposit may outshine Crawford

Canada Nickel’s (TSXV: CNC; US-OTC: CNIKF) new 46% larger Reid nickel sulphide resource makes it a likely successor to the company’s $1.4-billion (C$1.9-billion) Crawford project in the same Ontario region.

Reid, boasting what the company calls better open-pit characteristics than Crawford, now hosts measured and indicated resources of 867 million tonnes grading 0.23% nickel for 2.1 million tonnes of contained metal. It also has 1.5 billion inferred tonnes grading 0.22% nickel for 3.2 million tonnes – up 47% compared with the Dec. 2024 Reid resource estimate.

“Crawford is moving forward as our first project as we advance towards construction by year-end, but we believe that several other of our projects in the Timmins Nickel District – including Reid – have the potential to be even more valuable,” CEO Mark Selby said Monday in a release.

Reid’s resource stands out with nearly half the strip ratio, one-third less overburden and 15% higher chromium grades than Crawford, Selby said. More than 40% of the geophysical target remain to be explored and the deposit is open for continued drilling definition.

Shares in Canada Nickel rose as much as 6.6% in Toronto to C$1.88 before falling back to C$1.84 by mid-Monday. It has a market capitalization of C$420 million.

Price support

Nickel surged into the $16,500–$18,500-per-tonne range this month, its highest level in more than two years. The Oregon Group, an investment-research publisher founded by Anthony Milewski, the former CEO of Nickel 28, said Monday prices could test $25,000 per tonne later this year.

The rally could extend because Indonesia is tightening mining quotas and permit approvals. The country reportedly used only about 55% of approved ore capacity last year. Much of the unused capacity may have been on paper rather than physical supply, setting up a tighter market that could push nickel higher, the research team said in a report.

Crawford’s ultramafic concentrate is high-grade and comparatively “clean,” allowing a more straightforward roast-and-smelt pathway, Selby told The Northern Miner on Friday. That compares with many nickel sulphide projects that need complex, capital-heavy smelter-refinery circuits to deal with multiple metals and impurities, he said.

Ottawa has referred Canada Nickel’s Crawford project to the federal Major Projects Office, an effort to streamline approvals. The company expects federal permits this year.

“We would want to make a construction decision by the end of the third quarter and break ground before year end,” Selby said.

Base metal zinger

Reid sits 16 km southwest of Crawford and is more than twice the size of Crawford by geophysical footprint, Selby said , adding that the company sees the deposit as “even more valuable.” In a market where western automakers and governments want more non-Chinese controlled supply chains for battery metals, the company is trying to frame Timmins as a scalable nickel district rather than a one-mine story.

Canada Nickel expects a ninth resource estimate this quarter, with nine more targets already drilled and six geophysical targets still to test. Credit: Canada Nickel

The revised resource outlines a mineralized body about 2.3 km long and 1.1 km wide extending to 720 metres depth, with the deposit open to the northeast, southwest and at depth, the company said. Reid’s resources sit inside a conceptual pit shell with an average 1.19 : 1 stripping ratio and average overburden thickness of 25.8 metres.

Canada Nickel also reported an exploration target at Reid of 500,000 to 1.4 billion tonnes grading 0.21% to 0.22% nickel. and said the current resource covers only about 59% of the 3.9-sq.-km geophysical target area.

District potential

The Timmins Nickel District now totals eight deposits with 4.3 billion tonnes measured and indicated at 0.24% for 10.1 million tonnes of contained nickel and 5.4 billion tonnes inferred at 0.23% nickel for 12.5 million tonnes metals.

“With a ninth mineral resource estimate in the district expected later this quarter, nine additional targets already successfully drilled and a further six geophysical targets yet to be tested, the scale and potential of our Timmins Nickel District is truly exceptional,” Selby said in Monday’s release.