Nickel Mines in Canada

Where are the nickel mines in Canada?

One of Canada’s major nickel producers is Vale Canada, the Canadian division of Brazil-based miner Vale (NYSE:VALE). Vale is the world’s largest nickel producer and has seven nickel-focused sites in Canada. The company produces approximately 65,000 MT of nickel annually at its operations in Canada.

Glencore (LSE:GLEN) is another big nickel producer in the country. The company owns the Raglan mine in Northern Quebec, which spans an area of nearly 70 kilometers and consists of a series of high-grade ore deposits composed mostly of nickel and copper. Along with Raglan, Glencore has the Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations, which consist of two underground mines (Nickel Rim South and Fraser), the Strathcona mill and the Sudbury smelter. The facilities are spread throughout the geological formation known as the Sudbury Basin. In 2017, Glencore produced 109,100 tonnes of nickel in total from all of its operations. As of its H1 2018 report, Glencore has claimed 62,200 in total nickel production.

Finally, Sherritt International (TSX:S) operates the Moa joint venture, which is focused on Moa, Cuba and Fort Saskatchewan, Canada. In 2017, Sherritt reported production of 15,762 tonnes of nickel at Moa, down slightly from 16,464 tonnes the year prior.

What companies are exploring and developing nickel assets in Canada?

Major miners are a big part of the nickel landscape in Canada, but investors may also want to keep an eye on nickel exploration and development companies in the country.

Here’s an overview of three companies actively exploring and developing nickel assets in Canada. Companies listed had market caps of over $5 million at the time of publication.

Nickel Creek Platinum (TSX:NCP)

After a change in management and focus from 2016 to 2017, Nickel Creek Platinum is evaluating its Nickel Shaw property with new eyes — it is is looking at Nickel Shaw as primarily a nickel asset, not a platinum-group metals (PGMs) project, and is shifting its focus from exploration to bringing the property into the development phase.

The project holds over 2 billion pounds of nickel, 1 billion pounds of copper, 6 million ounces of PGMs and 120 million pounds of cobalt in the measured and indicated categories. Nickel Creek was working towards a preliminary economic assessment( PEA) on its Nickel Shaw project earlier this year however, the company announced that after scientific study on the land and taking current market conditions, that the project is not currently viable. Therefore, the PEA will not be completed “until the emergence of improved financial market conditions and a stronger commodity price environment.”

RNC Minerals (TSX:RNX)

RNC Minerals’ main assets are the Beta Hunt gold-nickel mine in Western Australia, a 28-percent stake in the joint venture that holds the Quebec-based Dumont nickel project and a 27-percent interest in the Manitoba-based Reed copper-gold mine.

The company made headlines early in 2018 when it announced plans to raise $1 billion for the construction of Dumont, which will produce cobalt as well as nickel. “The Dumont nickel-cobalt Project contains the world’s largest undeveloped reserves of both cobalt and nickel,” said President and CEO Mark Selby at the time. RNC continues to move forward at the asset, and signed a royalty deal on all future nickel and cobalt production with Cobalt 27 Capital (TSXV:KBLT) in February. Since then it announced that it awarded the feasibility contract to Ausenco Engineering Canada, and would be expecting the feasibility study to be completed in H1 of 2019.

Tartisan Nickel (CSE:TN)

Among other assets, exploration and development company Tartisan Nickel holds the Kenbridge nickel-copper-cobalt deposit outside of Kenora, Ontario. It has a contained nickel resource of 97.8 million pounds and 47 million pounds of copper, and the company has focused primarily on this project in 2018.

Other nickel companies to watch

While few companies are focused entirely on nickel mines in Canada, many active companies hold Canadian nickel assets in addition to their other main projects. We have listed some of these companies below; firms included had market caps of over $5 million at the time of publication.

• Landore Resources (LSE:LND): The nickel-copper-cobalt-PGMs Junior Lake property is in Ontario.
• Metallis Resources (TSXV:MTS): The company’s flagship project is the BC-based Kirkham project. Located in the Golden Triangle it is primarily a gold asset but hosts multiple deposits, including copper-gold porphyry and magmatic nickel-copper.
• North American Nickel (TSXV:NAN): North American Nickel is focused on its Maniitsoq nickel-copper-PGMs property in Greenland, but also holds the Post Creek/Halcyon property in Sudbury.
• Noront Resources (TSXV:NOT): Noront Resources has the Eagle’s Nest mine, a high-grade nickel-copper-PGMs deposit located in the Ring of Fire region of Northern Ontario.

Some companies have been less active recently but still hold nickel projects in Canada. A few are listed below; again, companies listed had market caps of over $5 million at the time of publication.

• Giga Metals (TSX:GIGA) is developing the Turnagain nickel deposit, a giant nickel sulfide deposit in North-Central BC.
• Grid Metals (TSXV:GRDM) is focused on exploration and development for nickel, copper and PGMs. The company has two open-pit deposits that comprise the Mayville Makwa nickel-copper-cobalt-palladium project in Manitoba.