The new holes generally returned 100 to 470 metres of predominantly nickel sulphide mineralization with grades ranging from 0.2% to 0.31% nickel. Two holes had mineralization of over 500 metres width – approximately 50% wider than Crawford Main Zone and more than 100% wider than Crawford East Zone.
All 16 drill holes completed on the Reid property have now intersected multi-hundred-metre intervals of nickel mineralization. To date, the broader intervals at yielded weighted average grades of 0.22% nickel over an average interval of 272 metres.
According to Canada Nickel’s CEO Mark Selby, the grades and mineralization at Reid are consistent with what the company has observed at the the East Zone deposit at Crawford.
“The success of this initial drilling, targeted solely with our team’s proprietary approach using provincial geophysical data, highlights the significant potential of our total regional land package with over 42 km2 of target geophysical footprint which is more than 20 times larger than our flagship Crawford project,” Selby said in a news release.
The Reid property is located 16 km southwest of Crawford and contains an ultramafic body with a target geophysical footprint of 3.9 km2, compared to just 1.6 km2 for Crawford.
With the drilling confirmation, the Reid project now represents another bulk-tonnage discovery anchored by Crawford, which is said to contain the fifth-largest nickel sulphide resource globally at 2.1 billion tonnes grading 0.24% nickel. A preliminary economic assessment for the Crawford project based on prior resource estimates outlined a 25-year operation capable of producing 842,000 tonnes of nickel metal.
In addition to the new drill results, Canada Nickel has also extended the repayment of its $10 million loan with Auramet to March 3, 2023. The extension “allows us to advance various financing initiatives, which we expect to complete during this timeframe,” Selby noted.
Shares of Canada Nickel rose 1.8% at C$1.61 a share by 12:30 p.m. ET following the latest exploration update, giving the company a market capitalization of C$191.3 million ($142m).
Echelon Capital Markets is maintaining a “Spec Buy” rating and C$6.00 price target for the stock based on the longer-term positive view of Crawford’s potential resource base, along with its alignment with global climate goals.
