Giga Metals Corporation (TSXV: GIGA) has entered into a binding agreement with Mitsubishi Corporation to form a new joint venture company, Hard Creek Nickel Corp. to jointly pursue the development of the Turnagain Nickel Deposit in northern British Columbia, Canada.
MC will acquire a 15% equity interest in Hard Creek in exchange for cash consideration of C$8 million. Giga will receive an 85% equity interest in Hard Creek in exchange for contributing all related assets for the Turnagain project. Pursuant to the terms of a shareholders’ agreement governing Hard Creek, Giga, with support from MC, will operate the joint venture, reporting to the board of directors of Hard Creek, and will work on a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) for the Turnagain project with completion expected in the first half of 2023.
Engineering firm Tetra Tech has been retained to lead the next stage of engineering and is currently conducting optimization studies preceding a PFS which will be prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and follow completion of funding. The PFS will model production of nickel and cobalt in concentrate, similar to the preliminary economic assessment published in February 2021.
“We are very pleased to welcome Mitsubishi Corporation, a global trading and investment company, as a strategic partner for the development of Turnagain project,” said Martin Vydra, President of Giga.
“We are excited about partnering with MC due to their excellent reputation, expertise in mining, extensive financing capabilities, experience in marketing, and the values that they share with Giga regarding environmental, social and governance issues.”
Giga and MC intend to jointly develop the Turnagain project as one of the greenest and most environmentally friendly nickel projects globally. Building on the inherently low carbon nature of the Project, Hard Creek will continue the work of Giga to explore the viability of the tailings to sequester CO2 from the atmosphere to achieve a carbon neutral project. Also, Hard Creek will work closely with local communities and the relevant First Nations to develop the Turnagain Project in a way which will be beneficial for all stakeholders in British Columbia, a jurisdiction that has adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
A separate study at the PFS level will model the addition of a pressure oxidation circuit to convert the concentrate to Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate (MHP), which is the chemical form of nickel/cobalt currently most in demand by battery manufacturers.
“The potential addition of a pressure oxidation circuit to the flow sheet will provide flexibility in terms of the form of nickel and cobalt the project produces,” said Martin Vydra. “We know from discussions with battery manufacturers and automobile OEMs that this flexibility is important to the end users. Our project should be well positioned to provide whatever the customers want.”
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