SPC Nickel signs deal with Vale to consolidate, develop Sudbury-area nickel-copper deposits
With electric vehicles expected to drive a boom in global nickel demand, Vale has signed an agreement with a junior miner in Sudbury to develop nickel-copper deposits in the area.
SPC Nickel Corp.’s agreement with Vale will consolidate SPC’s West Graham deposit with Vale’s Crean Hill 3 deposit.
The properties are adjacent to the former Lockerby and Crean Hill mines, about 20 km southwest of Sudbury and Vale’s Clarabelle Mill in the Sudbury Mining Camp.
The agreement gives SPC Nickel the right to acquire a 100 per cent interest in the surface and mineral rights of Crean Hill 3. In exchange, Vale receives certain rights and royalties to minerals mined from both properties.
Specifically, Vale will receive 37 per cent of net profits and has the right of first refusal for any ore produced from the project. Vale also has the first chance to purchase the properties should SPC want to sell any part of their holdings down the road.
SPC must also produce a feasibility study on the project by 2026. The full details of the agreement can be found here.
“The signing of this agreement with Vale represents a transformative growth opportunity for SPC Nickel and its shareholders,” SPC CEO Grant Mourre said in a news release announcing the agreement.
Mourre said negotiations with Vale have been ongoing for 12 months to find an agreement that benefited both parties.
“The consolidated West Graham and Crean Hill 3 deposits give SPC Nickel, as operator, the ability to optimize synergies during the exploration, development and production stages of the project,” he said.
“We are very excited about the opportunities that this agreement brings to SPC Nickel and are looking forward to getting drills turning on the property in 2023.”
Infrastructure already exists for developing the deposits, including haul roads and high-voltage electrical power.
Mourre said consolidating West Graham and Crean Hill 3 gives SPC the chance “to significantly grow the West Graham deposit into a high-quality nickel-copper asset in one of the top nickel mining camps in the world.”
“Our recently completed drill program at West Graham has provided the technical team with a firm understanding of the types of mineralization we expect to define on the Crean Hill 3 property,” he said.
“More importantly, the controls on mineralization that we expect to guide us to higher-grade opportunities across the combined project.”
The West Graham deposit is located on SPC’s Lockerby East property. Historic estimates put the unmined near-surface West Graham nickel-copper deposit at more than 47,000 tonnes of nickel and 34,000 tonnes of copper.
“These grades have economic potential in the context of the Sudbury Mining Camp, as the deposit is located very near to surface and may be amenable to low-cost open pit mining,” the SPC news release said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.