Canada Nickel Company is purchasing a 100% interest in the formerly produced Texmont nickel deposit located between the Deloro and Sothman mining areas south of Timmins, Ontario.
"The acquisition of Texmont assets provides near-term production potential on a smaller scale and is highly complementary to our large Crawford and regional nickel sulphide projects," Chief Executive Officer Mark Selby said in a press release.
"We are excited about the possibility of leveraging the understanding of the geology of Texmont and other upscale areas in Sothman and Bannockburn and applying this knowledge to our large regional asset package."
Mr Selby also said some investors had expressed interest in funding near-term production.
The Texmont property is located 36 km south of Timmins. It contains an ultramafic body with a target geophysical footprint of 1.2 km along strike and 150 m laterally. When production began in 1971, the historical resource was 3.2 million tons, with a grade of 0.9% nickel. The mine and a 500 t/d mill operated only until December 1972.
The initial Texmont deposit was targeted for narrow nickel mineralization in excess of 1.0%. Canada Nickel believes this high-grade material is contained in a larger tonnage deposit that extends to the surface and could support an open pit mine.
The company has drilled four holes in the original mine, the first three intersecting a sulphide mineralised layer directly below the overburden. No tests have been reported.
Canada Nickel's flagship Crawford Nickel project in northern Ontario claims to have the fifth largest nickel sulfide resource in the world. The preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA), based on previous resource estimates, outlined a 25-year operation to produce 842,000 tonnes of nickel, as well as iron and chromium by-products of 21 and 1.5 million tonnes respectively.
