Anglo American has agreed to acquire a 9.9% interest in Canada Nickel Co. Inc., which owns the Crawford nickel project in Ontario, Canada. Anglo said it will also provide technology expertise to the Crawford project and has the exclusive right to purchase up to 10% of recoveries of nickel concentrate, iron and chromium contained in the magnetite concentrates and any corresponding carbon credits from the Crawford project.
The $24 million in equity funding will support Canada Nickel’s work to complete the necessary permitting requirements to proceed with development of the project. Anglo said the investment is part of its approach to expanding its nickel product offering with additional battery-grade nickel.
“As a responsible provider of future-enabling metals and minerals to our customers, we are committed to supporting our industry in increasing the availability of critical materials that will underpin the success of the energy transition, and to do so sustainably,” said Peter Whitcutt, CEO of Anglo American’s marketing business.
Anglo American said it will apply its FutureSmart Mining technologies to ore samples from Canada Nickel, with the aim of assessing opportunities to improve processing recoveries and reduce the project’s overall energy, emissions and water footprint.
“Today’s announcement is another key milestone as we advance Crawford towards production,” said Mark Selby, chairman and CEO of Canada Nickel. “Our team is looking forward to working with Anglo American to identify opportunities to apply their industry leading mining innovation technology to add additional value to Crawford.”
Located to the north of Timmins, the Crawford project is one of the largest undeveloped, bulk tonnage nickel sulphide resources in the world.
The completion of the private placement and related offtake and technology agreements is subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange and is targeted to close on or about February 28, 2023.
