Resource World Magazine

A P R I L / M A Y 2 0 2 0 www.resourceworld.com 27 Russia. Class 1 nickel from sulphide depos- its is processed using simple, 100-year-old technology. As battery technology advances, man - ufacturers are packing more and more nickel into them to increase electric vehicle range. Jarvis said, "The big money that is being spent by the big battery companies in research, is all about how to increase the amount of nickel in the battery chem- istry because basically, the problem with electric vehicles is range anxiety. If you want to increase the range of your electric vehicle, you have to increase the amount of nickel, as a percentage, in your cathode materials." Regarding competing battery tech - nology Jarvis said, "There are a lot of experimental things going on but nothing you would even call a candidate. A can- didate technology is something that is at least 10 to 20 years away from commercial production." Jarvis explained that some types of class 2 nickel can be processed into class 1 nickel using a complex and costly process called HPAL, a high-pressure, high-tem - perature, process that uses sulfuric acid to leach nickel from laterite ores. "It is not easy. It involves a lot of chemistry, heat and pressure. It has been done success - fully, but most of the HPAL that has been constructed has been unsuccessful. The attempt has destroyed a lot of capital." Regarding supply of class 1 nickel, Jarvis said, "We think class 1 nickel is going to start getting really tight two, three, four years out. Once the cars start rolling out and more of the class 1 gets sucked into batteries that could get to a crunch point when there is not enough for everybody, including the 5% necessary for stainless-steel." The nickel price has been fluctuating in the last month between $5.50 and $6.00 per pound. Jarvis said, "it is a volatile commodity that has ranged between $4 and $24 a pound over the last 15 years.". He concluded, "$9 per pound is the incen - tive price for large new nickel projects to get built, according to Wood MacKenzie." Jarvis updated Resource World on Giga Metals Corp.'s [GIGA-TSXV; HNCKF- OTCQB; BRR2-FSE] Turnagain Project located in north-central British Columbia. Turnagain is a large, low-grade sulphide nickel deposit with measured and indi - cated resources of 5.2 billion pounds of nickel and 312 million pounds of cobalt and inferred resources of 5.5 billion pounds of nickel and 327 million pounds of cobalt. The company is currently working on a PEA, expected to be out in Q2 2020. Jarvis told Resource World that Giga is conduct - ing metallurgic testing that can increase recoveries which will significantly improve the project's economics and the PEA's num - bers. The open pit mine being modelled is expected to have a 38-year-mine-life and has a strip ratio of less than 1:1. Jarvis said the company is looking for investors/partners to bring the project to feasibility and to do an environmental assessment. A brief survey of nickel companies' activities: BatteryOne Royalty Corp. is a private royalty company focused on nickel and copper deposits in Tier 1 one jurisdic - tions with an emphasis on proven mining camps. BatteryOne's secondary emphasis is on cobalt, tin, lithium, graphite, lead, and zinc deposits. The company reports that it will, "shortly commence the listing process with the TSX Venture Exchange with the objective of completing it later in 2020." Bolt Metals Corp.'s [BOLT-CSE] (for - merly Pacific Rim Cobalt) flagship Cyclops laterite nickel-cobalt property is in Papua Province, Indonesia. The project has envi- ronmental and mining permits, year-round access, good infrastructure and a local workforce. In 2020, Bolt Metals' plans include "preparations to commission and operate a pilot process test plant in Canada, which will contain an integrated circuit to pro - duce high purity nickel and cobalt strip solutions, required to develop battery- grade material," According to a February 24 news release, the company also plans to produce a maiden 43-101 resource estimate. Canada Nickel Company Inc. [CNC- TSXV] announced, February 28, a maiden mineral resource estimate for its 100% owned Crawford nickel-cobalt sulphide project in the Timmins-Cochrane mining camp in Ontario. The company reported a maiden resource with a higher grade core of measured and indicated resource of approximately 263 million tonnes at 0.31% nickel, 0.013% cobalt, and 0.038 g/t Pd + Pt within an overall measured and indicated resource of approximately 600 million tonnes at 0.25% nickel, and 0.013% cobalt, and an additional higher grade inferred resource of approximately 66 million tonnes at 0.29% nickel and 0.013% cobalt within an overall inferred resource of approximately 310 million tonnes at 0.23% nickel and 0.013% cobalt NICKEL ❝THE BIG MONEY THAT IS BEING SPENT BY THE BIG BATTERY COMPANIES IN RESEARCH, IS ALL ABOUT HOW TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF NICKEL IN THE BATTERY CHEMISTRY BECAUSE BASICALLY, THE PROBLEM WITH ELECTRIC VEHICLES IS RANGE ANXIETY. IF YOU WANT TO INCREASE THE RANGE OF YOUR ELECTRIC VEHICLE, YOU HAVE TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF NICKEL, AS A PERCENTAGE, IN YOUR CATHODE MATERIALS.❞

• Cover