Overview
Future demand for nickel is projected to reach an all-time high, with much of that growth coming from the electric vehicle (EV) industry. Within that industry alone, global nickel demand is expected to reach 4.3 million metric tons by 2027. Nickel is an important component of EV batteries, and as EVs replace the majority of gas-powered vehicles, EV batteries will take a 41 percent share of nickel demand by 2040.
Nickel Creek Platinum (TSX:NCP; OTCQB:NCPCF) is a Canadian mining exploration and development company focused on delivering value to stakeholders through diversified exposure to nickel, copper and platinum group metals (PGM) in Canada’s Yukon Territory. The company’s principal focus is the exploration and evaluation of its 100-percent-owned Nickel Shäw project, located in southwestern Yukon.
Nickel Creek Platinum’s Nickel Shäw project contains 2.47 billion pounds of contained nickel in measured and indicated mineral resource categories. PGMs account for approximately a quarter of the project’s resources and represent one of the larger PGM resources outside of South Africa and Russia. Copper, which is also critical to the electric vehicle infrastructure, accounts for 13 percent, while cobalt, another necessary metal for the battery market, makes up 7 percent of the project’s resource.
Nickel Creek Platinum benefits from the support of the Yukon government and maintains a strong relationship with the Kluane First Nation and the local community for the Nickel Shäw project. An advisory committee facilitates communication between the company and the local community to address any issues or concerns regarding the project. Nickel Creek also offers community support, training and employment opportunities.
With a strong commitment to ESG, Nickel Creek continues to collect baseline environmental data on the Nickel Shäw for permitting purposes. Through a study led by the research team at the University of British Columbia’s CarbMinLab, the company has confirmed the project’s potential for carbon sequestration at Nickel Shaw’s Wellgreen deposit. This ongoing study indicates a carbon sequestration capability of approximately 34.4 kt CO2 per year (2.1 kt CO2 per Mt tailings), resulting in a low-carbon footprint for the project.
Thanks to the mining-friendly Yukon Territory and positive relationships with the First Nations and local governments, Nickel Shäw is on its way to becoming one of the most productive initiatives in the region.
The US and Canada both see nickel and cobalt as critical metals of strategic importance and Stuart Harshaw, president and CEO of Nickel Creek, is confident the organization can help fulfill that need. “We have completed extensive metallurgical test work on the full representation of the deposit to produce a product that can go to market. With our higher value per tonne than other similar projects, Nickel Creek Platinum is well positioned to move forward,” Harshaw said, adding he sees the company “producing nickel for over 25 years.”
Company Highlights
Nickel Creek Platinum is focused on the Nickel Shäw project, which hosts one of the world’s most promising deposits for nickel, copper, cobalt and PGMs, thanks to pre-existing regional infrastructure and expansive open-pit potential.The Nickel Shäw project location is ideal and low-risk, offering access to the Alaska Highway. The company has long-term relationships with large institutional shareholders, and management is highly experienced in related markets and project operations.Nickel in general is a vital component in battery technologies and will have a variety of uses for the growing electric vehicle market.Nickel Creek Platinum is dedicated not only to providing value for shareholders but also to achieving a carbon-neutral future in a socially responsible way. The organization is working with First Nations groups as well as local governments to minimize waste and promote positive environmental and social impacts.University of British Columbia’s study on Nickel Shaw’s Wellgreen deposit has confirmed its potential for carbon sequestration.The company has filed a technical report titled, Nickel Shäw Ni-Cu-PGM Project PreFeasibility Study for the Nickel Shäw Ni-Cu-PGM Project, Yukon, Canada.
Key Project
Nickel Shäw Project
An undeveloped nickel sulphide deposit in the Yukon, the Nickel Shäw project boasts a favorable location and a diverse resource base of various metals including copper, cobalt and PGMs. Investors will be exposed to several different metals when working with Nickel Creek Platinum.
The project hosts measured and indicated resources of:
2.47 billion pounds of nickel1.28 billion pounds of copper6.97 million ounces of PGMs137 million pounds of cobalt
The project is located southwest of Canada’s Yukon Territory, approximately 300km west-northwest of the capital, Whitehorse. This locale grants the project exceptional infrastructure, including the paved Alaska Highway and its year-round access to deep sea shipping ports in Haines and Skagway. There is potential for railway access in the future as well as options for renewable energy with the local community.
The company completed its 2022 drilling program, with a total of 2,975 metres drilled, which includes a 1,710 metres pre-feasibility study drilling at the Wellgreen deposit.
Work conducted by Dr. Gregory Dipple at CarbMinLab, University of British Columbia, showed significant uptake of carbon dioxide from a composite sample in bench-top testing. The results indicate a carbon sequestration capability of approximately 34.4kt of carbon dioxide per year equivalent to 2.1kt of carbon dioxide per Mt tailings.
The demonstrated substantial carbon capture from the Wellgreen deposit represents an opportunity to capture carbon in the form of carbon dioxide that will significantly reduce Nickel Creek’s overall carbon footprint.
The Wellgreen deposit, which forms part of the company’s Nickel Shäw Project, contains extensive nickel-copper-platinum-group elements (PGE) mineralization dominantly hosted in ultramafic rocks. Previous work at CarbMinLab confirmed the presence of brucite (a magnesium-rich mineral known to react quickly with carbon dioxide in air) in a subset of samples with concentrations ranging from 1 to 3 percent based on thermogravimetric analysis and leach tests.
Nickel Creek Platinum has filed a technical report titled ‘Nickel Shäw Ni-Cu-PGM Project PreFeasibility Study for the Nickel Shäw Ni-Cu-PGM Project, Yukon, Canada.’ Prepared by AGP Consultants, the estimated after-tax net present value (NPV) at a 5 percent discount rate is C$143 million with an after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 5.8 percent.
Project PFS Highlights:
C$143 million after-tax NPV using a 5 percent discount rate and an IRR of 5.8 percent at the following commodity prices: Nickel – US$11.00 /pound (lb); Copper – US$4.00 /lb; Palladium – US$2,100 /troy ounce (troy oz); Platinum – US$1,000 /troy oz; cobalt – US$23 /lb; Gold – US$1,800 /troy oz, each using a 0.75 Canadian to US exchange rate.Life of mine (LOM) after-tax cash flow of approximately C$1.7 billion with an after-tax payback period of 12.7 years.Pre-production capital cost of approximately C$1.7 billion, with a construction period of three years.
Management Team
Stuart Harshaw – President, CEO and Director
Stuart Harshaw is a seasoned mining executive with a successful international career with Vale SA and Inco Limited. Most recently, as vice-president of Ontario operations for Vale, Harshaw was responsible for the company’s base metal operations in Ontario, which included six underground mines, a mill, smelter, nickel refinery, cobalt refinery, precious metal refinery and hydro-electric production facilities.
He held various senior roles with Vale including marketing and sales for a broad range of metal concentrates and finished metals worldwide.
Since leaving Vale, he has been consulting in the global mining business and is a member of the board of directors of several mining companies.
Joe Romagnolo – Senior Vice-president and Chief Financial Officer
Joe Romagnolo has extensive experience in the mining sector and all areas of external financial reporting, budgeting, compliance and cash flow management. He has also implemented financial reporting systems at all stages of a company’s growth and development from exploration to construction.
Romagnolo was recently with OceanaGold Corporation and Romarco Minerals Inc. He was responsible for the successful conclusion of over $500 million in equity financings and integrally involved in a US$200-million project debt financing with a syndicate of international banks with Romarco.
Before that role, Romagnolo was corporate controller of Centenario Copper Corporation, Atlas Cold Storage, and The Molson Companies Limited. He is a chartered professional accountant and a member of the Institute of Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario.
Heather White – Advisor to Technical Committee of the Board of Directors
Heather White has over 20 years of experience in the mining industry where she has served in senior operating and executive roles with major companies like NOVAGOLD Resources, Vale Canada, and Voisey’s Bay Nickel Company. She was also the chief mine engineer and subsequently mine manager for Voisey’s Bay, where she was responsible for the development of the feasibility study through to mine operations.
White is a professional mining engineer and president of White Mining Consulting Inc. She offers her advisory services, including qualified person and project management services for resource development, scoping analysis, PEA, PFS, and FS level mining studies to a diverse group of clients that includes The Electrum Group, NOVAGOLD Resources, Trilogy Metals, and most recently Nickel Creek Platinum.
During her time at Vale, White gained extensive experience in the nickel market, having planned and managed the worldwide nickel supply chain for Vale. Her duties involved the alignment of production of all products at all finished nickel smelting and refining facilities with market demand.
Cameron Bell – Consulting Geologist
Cameron Bell is a geologist who has spent most of his career with Inco and Vale, engaged in both greenfield and brownfield exploration for base metals, potash and coal. Bell held senior technical and management roles at Voisey’s Bay and the Sudbury Basin, as well as the positions of regional exploration manager, North America and Australasia. In the 1990s, he was involved in belt-scale Ni-Cu-PGE exploration of the Kluane district in southwest Yukon. More recently, Bell worked as an exploration consultant focusing on nickel, copper and lithium projects.
Myron Manternach – Chairman
Myron Manternach is president of Castle Grove Capital, an investment firm that provides strategic and financial advice, and raises capital for institutional investors and portfolio companies. He has over 25 years of experience in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate issuers. Manternach worked as an investment banker at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and as an analyst and manager of institutional investment funds with extensive experience in the mining and metals industry. Most recently, he was executive vice-president, finance and corporate development at Lithium Americas, and managing director and senior portfolio manager of Ambac Assurance., a subsidiary of Ambac Financial Group. He has been a director of Nickel Creek Platinum since July 2012 and was previously a director of Lithium Americas. before its merger with Western Lithium.
Mike Sylvestre – Director
Mike Sylvestre recently retired from Kinross Gold Corporation and his position of Senior vice-president, Americas Operations. For most of his career, Sylvestre worked with Inco. where he held senior management positions domestically and internationally. Most notably, he was the CEO of Vale Inco, New Caledonia, president of Vale Inco, Manitoba operations, and the vice-president of operations PT Inco, Indonesia. Sylvestre was also previously the President and CEO of Castle Resources Inc. and the interim CEO of Claude Resources., as well as Chair of the Board. Sylvestre brings over 40 years of mining experience to Nickel Creek Platinum. He is a member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario and the Canadian Institute of Mining.
Michele S. Darling – Director
Michele Darling has over 30 years of global business experience, with particular expertise in human resources management and corporate governance. She is the president of Michele Darling and Associates Inc., a management consulting business that provides human resources and strategic planning consulting services to Canadian and American businesses. Before establishing her consulting practice, Darling was the executive vice-president, corporate governance and human resources, with Prudential Financial from 1996 to 2002. She played a very significant role in the transformation of Prudential Financial from a mutual company into a public company and was honored as Human Resources Executive of the Year.
Wayne Kirk – Director
Wayne Kirk has over 36 years of experience as a corporate attorney, including nine years of experience as vice-president, general counsel and corporate secretary of Homestake Mining Company, and over 18 years of experience as a board member of publicly held companies, including as a member of audit and governance committees. He is currently a member of the board of directors of Northern Dynasty Minerals
Mark Fields – Director
Mark Fields has over 30 years of experience in increasingly senior positions in the mineral exploration and mining industry with major and junior companies and currently operates his consulting practice, MC Fields Ventures Inc. Fields has and continues to serve on boards of publicly held companies involved in mineral exploration and development. On March 15, 2017, Fields was appointed as the interim president and CEO of Discovery Harbour Resources Corp. and on December 17, 2019, was appointed president and CEO. He was involved in the acquisition and development of the Diavik diamond mine for the Rio Tinto Group through the 1990s. Fields was vice-president of La Teko Resources when it negotiated a friendly take-over by Kinross Gold Corporation. As executive vice-president of Pine Valley Mining Corporation, he was a key member of the executive team that brought the Willow Creek metallurgical coal mine into commercial production, for which he received the E.A. Scholz Award for excellence in mine development. Fields was president and CEO of Geodex Minerals from 2009 through 2014 and negotiated the joint venture and sale of the Sisson tungsten-molybdenum project to Northcliff Resources followed by the re-organization of Geodex Minerals.