VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 17,
2023 /CNW/ - FPX Nickel Corp. (TSXV: FPX)
(OTCQB: FPOCF) ("FPX" or the "Company") is
pleased to announce the commencement of a preliminary feasibility
study ("PFS") for the Baptiste Nickel Project
("Baptiste" or "the Project") in central British
Columbia. The PFS will mark the culmination of the extensive
de-risking and optimization program that has been undertaken since
the issuance of the 2020 preliminary economic assessment ("2020
PEA"). The PFS is expected to be completed in
September 2023.
Highlights
- The PFS will present a mature project basis, integrating FPX's
extensive de-risking and optimization program undertaken since the
2020 PEA
- The PFS will present two strategic options, including:
-
- Base Case – production of a high-grade awaruite concentrate
(50-65% Ni) for direct feed to the stainless steel market,
utilizing a simple and robust concentrator flowsheet that is only
possible due to Baptiste's awaruite mineralization
- Option – further upgrading of the high-grade awaruite
concentrate to produce battery-grade nickel sulphate and
cobalt-rich products for the electric vehicle battery supply chain,
utilizing moderate leaching conditions and standard
hydrometallurgical unit operations
- The PFS will be prepared by a team of industry-leading
consultants, all of whom have meaningfully contributed to the
Project's de-risking and optimization program since the 2020 PEA,
thus maintaining strong continuity in the ongoing development of
Baptiste
"The PFS will mark the culmination of several years of robust
project de-risking and optimization activities, including resource
definition drilling, engineering trade-off studies, baseline
studies and pilot-scale metallurgical test programs," commented
Martin Turenne, the Company's
President and CEO. "Since completion of the 2020 PEA, we have
consistently applied a major company-style mindset to project
development, and believe the PFS will confirm Baptiste as a
peer-leading development-stage nickel project, highlighting its
potential for large-scale, low-cost and low-carbon nickel
production spanning multiple decades."
The PFS will mark the culmination of an extensive de-risking and
optimization program that has been undertaken since the issuance of
the 2020 PEA. With data collection and fundamental
optionality largely addressed during the post-PEA work program, FPX
is confident that the PFS can be executed in an efficient manner,
and the team will be able to focus on maximizing the project's
technical and commercial maturity. Key work elements since
the 2020 PEA and their respective impact on the PFS base case are
presented in Table 1.
The PFS will present a base case of a mine and concentrator
facility to produce a high-grade awaruite concentrate (50-65% Ni)
which can be directly fed to the stainless steel industry without
intermediate processing. As a strategic alternative,
the PFS will present an option to further refine the high-grade
awaruite concentrate within a standalone, off-site refinery to
produce both battery-grade nickel sulphate and cobalt-rich products
for the electric vehicle battery supply chain. This highly
flexible approach is due to Baptiste's unique mineralogy and the
resultant simple flowsheets for the production of high-value
concentrate and sulphate products.
Table 1 – Baptiste Nickel Project: Summary of De-Risking
& Optimization Program Since 2020 PEA
Work
Elements
|
Description
|
Results
|
Geology & Resource
Estimate
|
Completion of an
in-fill drilling program, targeting conversion of near-surface,
high-grade inferred resources to the indicated category.
|
Drill results converted
inferred resources to indicated resources, as per Company
objective.
See FPX News Release
dated March 14, 2022
|
Completion of an
updated resource estimate incorporating 2021's in-fill drilling,
combined with a new geological modelling approach and improved dike
model.
|
2022 mineral resource
estimate achieved a 6% Davis Tube Recoverable ("DTR") Ni
grade increase for indicated resources as compared to 2020 mineral
resource estimate.
2022 mineral resource
estimated included first-time reporting of Total Ni, DTR Co, and
DTR Fe, providing the opportunity for potential inclusion of
secondary products within the PFS economic basis.
See FPX News Release
dated November 14, 2022
|
Metallurgy
|
Phase 1 – Grindability
and initial pilot-scale testwork on both mine phase and master
composites
|
A mature dataset
supporting PFS-level design criteria.
See FPX News Release
dated December 8, 2021
|
Phase 2 – Mineralogy on
both mine phase and master composites; and flotation testwork on
master composite
|
A mature dataset to
support PFS-level design criteria.
See FPX News Release
dated July 27, 2022
|
Phase 3a – Larger-scale
pilot testwork to validate the PFS flowsheet
|
Results both validate
the PFS flowsheet as well as confirm tangible process benefits in
plant-scale processing.
See FPX News Release
dated July 27, 2022 for initial results. Full results will be
released in late January 2023.
|
Phase 3b – Variabilty
testwork on the concentrator flowsheet and optimization testwork on
the hydrometallurgical refinery flowsheet for production of nickel
sulphate
|
Testwork in progress to
further support design criteria.
Results forecast for
release in April 2023.
|
Geotechnical
|
Completion of phased
geotechnical and hydrogeological site investigation programs
in 2021 and 2022. Historic open-pit geotechnical data
analyzed to provide more mature open-pit design
criteria.
|
Suitable site
characterization information now available for PFS design and
estimating purposes.
|
Engineering
Studies
|
Focusing on project
elements having the strongest influence on overall project value, a
series of de-risking and optimization trade-off studies were
conducted.
|
Project value improved
through:
·
Change to SAG (semi-autogenous grinding)
mill comminution
·
A phased development approach with a
smaller scale of initial development as compared to the 2020 PEA
approach
·
A detailed alternatives assessment of all
available mine waste management strategies identified several
viable alternatives, with the lowest overall risk option to be
carried forward to the PFS
·
Improved understanding of linear facility
options (road and power corridors) and economics
·
Evaluation of multiple mine planning
scenarios, improving the metal production profile, optimizing
hauling distances and overall footprint
See FPX News Release
dated June 9, 2022
|
Environmental &
Cultural Baseline Studies
|
Execution of 2021
baseline readiness reconnaisance program, following by resumption
of full environmental and cultural baseline studies in 2022,
utilizing an Indigenous-led process which involves signifcant
contributions from local stakeholders.
|
Collaborative approach
with local stakeholders has produced high quality results on
schedule.
|
Indigenous
Engagement
|
A comphrehensive
Memorandum of Agreement was signed with the Binche Whut'en First
Nation, which provides support to FPX's project development
activities.
|
See FPX News Release
dated June 21, 2022
|
The PFS will fully incorporate de-risking and optimization
results as summarized in Table 1. The PFS will be conducted
with the assistance of industry-leading service providers, and the
collective team will produce a fully integrated National Instrument
43-101 compliant technical report. Key service
providers have all meaningfully contributed to previous Project
works, which reduces both technical, commercial, and schedule
risks. Key service providers contributing to the PFS
are presented in Table 2.
Table 2 – Key Service Providers Contributing to the
PFS
Participant
|
Scope of
Responsibility
|
First Engaged on the
Project
|
Ausenco Engineering
Canada Ltd.
|
Process,
infrastructure, and overall PFS integration
|
Q4-2021
|
Knight Piésold
Ltd.
|
Tailings, water
management, and geotechnical
|
Q2-2021
|
Onsite Engineering
Ltd.
|
Site access
road
|
Q4-2021
|
Carisbrooke
Ltd.
|
Off-site power
system
|
Q4-2021
|
Next Mine
Consulting
|
Geological modelling
and resource estimation
|
Q4-2021
|
Jeff Austin
|
Metallurgical
consultant and Qualified Person
|
2018
|
Shas-Ti (an Ecofor
Consulting and Binche Whut'en joint venture)
|
Environmental and
cultural baseline studies
|
Q1-2022
|
ERM
|
Hydrology and
meteorology
|
Q1-2021
|
Lorax
|
Geochemistry
|
Q4-2021
|
Sasuchan
Environmental
|
Hydrogeology
|
Q4-2022
|
In addition to the technical work conducted since the PEA, the
Company has also focused efforts on understanding the current
project execution environment, including both cost escalation and
schedule considerations. FPX and its consultants have
reviewed recently constructed major concentrator projects as well
as regional mining projects, and learnings from both efforts will
bolster PFS execution planning and cost estimating
efforts. With the resultantly mature technical and
commercial basis presented in the PFS, the Company is confident
that Baptiste's large scale, long life, favourable jurisdiction,
and low-carbon intensity will support the continued development of
the Project as a preferred feed source to either or both of the
stainless steel and electric vehicle battery supply chains.
Andrew Osterloh, P.Eng., FPX
Nickel's Qualified Person under NI 43-101, has reviewed and
approved the technical content of this news release.
About the Decar Nickel
District
The Company's Decar Nickel District claims cover 245
km2 of the Mount Sidney Williams ultramafic/ophiolite
complex, 90 km northwest of Fort St.
James in central British
Columbia. The district is a two-hour drive from Fort St. James on a high-speed logging
road.
Decar hosts a greenfield discovery of nickel mineralization in
the form of a naturally occurring nickel-iron alloy called awaruite
(Ni3Fe), which is amenable to bulk-tonnage, open-pit
mining. Awaruite mineralization has been identified in four target
areas within this ophiolite complex, being the Baptiste Deposit,
and the B, Sid and Van targets, as confirmed by drilling,
petrographic examination, electron probe analyses and outcrop
sampling on all four targets. Since 2010, approximately US
$28 million has been spent on the
exploration and development of Decar.
Of the four targets in the Decar Nickel District, the Baptiste
Deposit, which was initially the most accessible and had the
largest known surface footprint, has been the focus of diamond
drilling since 2010, with a total of 99 holes and 33,700 m of drilling completed. The Sid
target was tested with two holes in 2010 and the B target had a
single hole drilled in 2011; all three holes intersected
nickel-iron alloy mineralization over wide intervals with DTR
nickel grades comparable to the Baptiste Deposit. In 2021,
the Company executed an inaugural drilling program at Van which
returned results comparable with the strongest results at Baptiste.
In 2022, the Company executed a step-out drilling program at Van
which demonstrated a sizeable expansion of the mineralized zone
identified in the 2021 program.
About FPX Nickel Corp.
FPX Nickel Corp. is focused on the exploration and development
of the Decar Nickel District, located in central British Columbia, and other occurrences of the
same unique style of naturally occurring nickel-iron alloy
mineralization known as awaruite.
On behalf of FPX Nickel Corp.
"Martin Turenne"
Martin Turenne, President, CEO and
Director
Forward-Looking
Statements
Certain of the statements made and information contained
herein is considered "forward-looking information" within the
meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. These statements
address future events and conditions and so involve inherent risks
and uncertainties, as disclosed in the Company's periodic filings
with Canadian securities regulators. Actual results could differ
from those currently projected. The Company does not assume the
obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this release.
SOURCE FPX Nickel Corp.