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Tartisan Nickel $TN.ca: Poised For A Breakout Year! Resource Expansion & Exploration Ramp Up IS Coming IN 2021 $RNX.ca $TSLA $NOB.ca $SHL.ca $CNC.ca $FPC.ca $NICO.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 10:33 AM on Monday, January 18th, 2021
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Morgan Stanley on Nickel Forecast:

  • 6.4% demand growth in 2021
    • outpacing supply as Indo NPI growth offset by China’s decline
  • Market moving from 85kt surplus in 2020 to -18kt in ’21
    • Supporting average price of $7.29/lb, with risk skewed to bull case $8.75/lb

Tartisan Investment Highlights:

  • Kenbridge Nickel Deposit is a Class 1 Nickel project which can safely be put into production quickly at low capital cost
  • Updated Mineral Resource Estimate: 7.47 Ktonnes 0.6% Ni, 0.32% Cu open pit and underground
  • Measured and Indicated resources 985 Ktonnes Inferred at 1% Ni, 0.62% or 117 million pounds of Nickel and 66 million pounds of Copper
  • Potential to double the underground resource at Kenbridge through anticipated drill program
  • Kenbridge North – Untested Potential to Discover additional Class 1 Deposits

Tartisan Strategic Investment Holdings $9+ Million

  • Eloro Resources,  Class One Nickel and Technologies , Peruvian Metals Corp. provide Tartisan shareholders an opportunity to participate in other high-quality projects

Kenbridge Ni Project (Kenora, Ontario)

  • Property is accessible via gravel roads from paved Highway 71
  • Underground development of the deposit extends from surface to a depth of 623 metres in a 3 compartment shaft, with 244 metres of drifts and 168 metres of crosscuts at the 110 and 150 metre levels
  • The minimum drill spacing is at 15.2metres on all levels.
  • The deepest hole extends to 838.4 metre depth and intersected mineralization grading 4.25% nickel and 1.38% copper over 10.7 metres, indicating that the deposit remains open at depth.
  • Historical surface drilling was completed at 30.5metre spacing
  • Preliminary  Economic Assessment completed and updated returned robust project economics and operating costs including a NPV of C$253M and cash costs of US$3.47/lb of nickel net of copper credits

Look for Tartisan Corporate updates in 2021 at Tartisan.com

Tartisan Nickel Corp. $TN.ca Expands Kenbridge Nickel Project Property Position, Kenora Mining Division, Ontario $RNX.ca $TSLA $NOB.ca $SHL.ca $CNC.ca $FPC.ca $NICO.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:57 AM on Tuesday, December 8th, 2020
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Tartisan Nickel Corp. (CSE:TN)(OTC PINK:TTSRF)(FSE:A2D) (“Tartisan”, or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that Tartisan has staked an additional 71 single-cell mining claims contiguous to the Company’s flagship Kenbridge Nickel Deposit patented and unpatented mining claim group. The newly acquired claims bring the total claim count to 114 single-cell mining claims adjoining the Kenbridge patented mining claim group. Each single-cell mining claim covers an area of approximately 20.92 ha. for a total area of 1,485.3 ha. The Kenbridge Nickel Project now has a combined total of 3632.7 ha. of patented and unpatented mining claims.

Recent reinterpretation of historical geophysical and geological data has identified areas which appear to have similar characteristics to those exhibited at the Kenbridge Nickel Deposit. Three dimensional modeling of historical airborne magnetic data suggests that several individual magnetic features identified at surface appear to be connected at depth. Additionally, a recent reinterpretation of airborne EM data has led to the recognition of subtle features which may require additional exploration. Tartisan is now evaluating which ground geophysical surveys should be completed over the new claims and the northern portion of the patented claims in the upcoming winter exploration program.

CEO Mark Appleby states, “The suggestion that several magnetic features identified at surface appear to be connected at depth makes follow up an essential next step. The potential to increase the Kenbridge Nickel Resource would anecdotally improve project economics and we are encouraged by opportunities that have the potential to increase the Kenbridge Nickel Deposit”.

About Tartisan Nickel Corp.

Tartisan Nickel Corp. is a Canadian based mineral exploration and development company which owns; the Kenbridge Nickel Project in Northwestern Ontario; the Sill Lake Silver Property in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario as well as the Don Pancho Manganese-Zinc-Lead-Silver Project in Peru. The Company has an equity stake in; Eloro Resources Limited, Class 1 Nickel and Technologies Limited and Peruvian Metals Corp.

Tartisan Nickel Corp. common shares are listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE:TN; OTC:TTSRF; FSE:A2D). Currently, there are 101,603,550 shares outstanding (107,203,550 fully diluted).

For further information, please contact Mark Appleby, President & CEO and a Director of the Company, at 416-804-0280 ([email protected]). Additional information about Tartisan Nickel Corp. can be found at the Company’s website at www.tartisannickel.com or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Dean MacEachern P. Geo is the Qualified Person under NI 43-101 and has read and approved the technical content of this News Release.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.

The Canadian Securities Exchange (operated by CNSX Markets Inc.) has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release.

SOURCE: Tartisan Nickel Corp.

Not Enough Class 1 Nickel In The Pipeline – Sherritt CEO SPONSOR: Tartisan Nickel $TN.ca $RNX.ca $TSLA $NOB.ca $SHL.ca $CNC.ca $FPC.ca $NICO.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 11:01 AM on Friday, December 4th, 2020
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SPONSOR: Tartisan Nickel Corp’s flagship asset, the Kenbridge Nickel Deposit, hosts an updated resource estimate of 7.5 Mt of 0.58% nickel and 0.32% copper for a total of 95 Mlb of contained nickel. Tartisan also owns equity stakes in Eloro Resources Ltd. that is exploring the ISKA ISKA project, and the low-sulphidation epithermal La Victoria Gold/Silver Project in Ancash, Peru. Class 1 Nickel & Technologies Limited who are advancing the Alexo-Kelex Dundonald nickel project near Timmins Ontario and Peruvian Metals Corporation who are operating a toll mill in Peru. Click Here For More Info

With the spotlight shining on nickel, Canadian miner Sherritt International’s (TSX:S) CEO David Pathe sees brighter days ahead.

Sherritt, which has significant assets in Cuba, has weathered storms ever since Pathe’s predecessor gambled on partnering with Havana’s communist government in the 1990s, and the miner was pushed to the brink during president Trump’s tenure, when early last year, the White House began ramping up sanctions on Cuba.

Nickel has been a tough business since the financial crisis, and Sherritt’s market value sunk to a record low C$29.8 million ($22.8 million) in March from its 2008 peak of C$4.8 billion, trading at a low of eight Canadian cents.

In February, Sherritt had announced a proposed transaction designed to improve its capital structure and reduce the company’s debt by half, and at the end of August, Pathe said it closed a “significant restructuring” of all of its debt tied to exiting the costly Ambitovy project in Madagascar, eliminating C$300 million in debt and pushing out loan payments due next year to 2026.

Pathe said covid-19 pandemic disruptions haven’t had any material effect on operations, after making some adaptations, and the company is on track to hit production targets.

The world needs more battery metals

Given the chasm between future demand for battery raw materials used in electric vehicles and new supply entering the market over the next decade, the current low price environment for lithium, cobalt, graphite and less so nickel is not likely to endure.

At its much-hyped Battery Day event in September, automaker Telsa CEO Elon Musk called on the world’s miners to make more nickel, while hardly mentioning cobalt.

“There isn’t any new, meaningful capacity in class 1 nickel anywhere in the pipeline, because the price of nickel over the last ten years hasn’t supported it”

David Pathe, CEO, Sherritt International

While Pathe is optimistic about nickel demand, he said reducing cobalt by volume will continue, but doesn’t see it being eliminated from the battery metals supply chain.

“There isn’t any other metal that does what cobalt does in terms of stability and seeing a battery through temperature changes and the thermodynamics of charging,” Pathe told MINING.COM. “We don’t think you’ll see cobalt eliminated from batteries any time soon.”

While Musk’s call for miners to produce more nickel lifted prices, California-based Tesla couldn’t buy from Sherritt without violating the US embargo on Cuba.

“We are expecting to see a bit of an inflection point in nickel prices,” Pathe told Bloomberg, adding the attention Musk is drawing “is good for the industry as a whole, including us.”

Pathe said he is hoping that now, the differentiation between class 1 nickel for batteries and nickel pig iron, which accounts for most of the supply in the market, will strengthen class 1 nickel price.

“The challenge with the whole automobile industry now is that they are looking at their plants to ramp up electric vehicle production in the next 5 to 20 years, and if you look at global nickel production – class 1 nickel, used for batteries, and the capacity just isn’t there, and there isn’t any new, meaningful capacity in class 1 nickel anywhere in the pipeline, because the price of nickel over the last ten years hasn’t supported it. ”

Pathe said automakers are “coming to appreciate that, and seeing how different the mining industry is from the automobile industry.”

Mines will be needed to feed new industrial production, and Pathe said automakers are getting their minds around their nickel supply strategy and what it’s going to look like.

Pathe said there isn’t enough class 1 nickel production in the pipeline, and said plants need metals supply to ensure the viability of the auto (EV) industry, while North America catches up with Europe and China.

“That is the way the world is going, and I think its further evidence that we are getting closer and closer to a tipping point. Disruptive changes take a while to build momentum,” Pathe said.

SOURCE: https://www.mining.com/not-enough-class-1-nickel-production-in-the-pipeline-sherritt-ceo/

Nickel Explorer Seeks to Bring New Life to Two Former Timmins Mines SPONSOR: Tartisan Nickel $TN.ca $RNX.ca $TSLA $NOB.ca $SHL.ca $CNC.ca $FPC.ca $NICO.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:59 AM on Thursday, November 5th, 2020
  • Class 1 Nickel posts a two-million-tonne-plus resource at Alexo-Dundonald Project
  • Tartisan owns close to 1,700,000 shares of Class 1 Nickel (NICO:CSE) through vending of Tartisan’s Alexo-Kelex nickel asset in 2018
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Crushed ore at the Alexo Mine site near Timmins in 2005.

A new nickel sulphide player has fully emerged in the Timmins camp seeking to revive a well-known piece of mining ground.

Class 1 Nickel and Technologies released a very promising new mineral resource estimate for its Alexo-Dundonald Nickel Project, 45 kilometres northeast of the city.

The Toronto-based company reported an updated estimated indicated mineral resource of 1.25 million tonnes with an average grade of 0.99 per cent of nickel, and a total estimated inferred mineral resource of 1.01 million tonnes with an average grade of 1.08 per cent.

The indicated resource count has jumped 119 per cent since the last mineral estimate in June. The inferred resource ballooned by 1,400 per cent.

The company thinks it has a turn-key project on its hands that can be fast-tracked into nickel and cobalt production with little capital expenditure.

With nickel, cobalt, copper, and platinum group elements in the ground, the company has eyes on supplying battery-grade material for the electric vehicle and stainless steel markets. Nickel sulphide is used in electric vehicle battery cathodes.

Class 1, which went public over the summer on the Canadian Securities Exchange, had been quietly assembling a 20-square-kilometre package of properties that hosted two former small-scale nickel mines along some promising exploration ground that follows a large ‘Z’-shaped group of komatiite rocks, known to contain nickel sulphide.

The project property includes two former one-pit and underground mines – the Alexo and Kelex – that ceased operations in 2005 due to low nickel prices, plus the nearby Dundonald property which contains nickel-bearing zones.

Alexo and Kelex were mined for nickel and copper three separate times around the time of the First World War, during the Great Depression and the Second World War, and lastly between 2004 and 2005.

Class 1 said much of the property has never been probed by drilling and modern geophysics. The last drilling program at Alexo-Kelex was done in 2011, and at Dundonald in 2005.

The company’s exploration program of geophysics has been focused on expanding the resource left behind at Alexo and Kelex, and probe the Dundonald property on the way to planning a drill program and eventually releasing a preliminary economic assessment report for a possible mine.

Management is currently out raising $3 million in flow-through shares for exploration.

SOURCE: https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/industry-news/mining/nickel-explorer-seeks-to-bring-new-life-to-two-former-timmins-mines-2847105

Tartisan Nickel Corp. $TN.ca Acquires Additional Nickel-Copper Claims in Northwest Ontario $RNX.ca $TSLA $NOB.ca $SHL.ca $CNC.ca $FPC.ca $NICO.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:37 AM on Tuesday, October 27th, 2020
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  • Hole ND-10-03 intersected 4.53% Ni, within a larger interval averaging 1.02% Ni, 0.38% Cu over 4 metres.
  • The mineralization remains open along strike and to depth.
  • Claims previously owned by Canadian Arrow Mines Limited in 2010

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / October 27, 2020 / Tartisan Nickel Corp. (CSE:TN)(OTC PINK:TTSRF)(FSE:A2D) (“Tartisan”, or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that the Company has acquired the Night Danger, Glatz nickel-copper claims located in the Turtle Pond Project area near Dryden, Ontario.

The Company has acquired a 100% interest in the Glatz, Night Danger Nickel-Copper Claims located approximately 70 kms from the Company’s flagship Kenbridge Nickel Deposit. The property is situated in an area of excellent infrastructure and consists of 16 claim units. The 16 claim unit property hosts the historical Glatz and Night Danger nickel-copper showings. Previous exploration efforts identified nickel-copper sulphide mineralization in twelve trenches along a 700 metre trend at the Glatz nickel copper showing. The zone, discovered in 1965 by local prospector A. Glatz, is up to 40 metres wide and is open along strike and at depth. Historical grab samples were reported to contain up to 1.95% Ni. In 2007, Canadian Arrow Mines Limited conducted a surface grab sampling program which produced the following results: 1.28% Ni, 0.26% Cu re Glatz Trench 3; 0.99% Ni, 0.18% Cu re Glatz Trench 3; 0.39% Ni, 4.06% Cu re Trench 4. The mineralization varies from disseminated sulphides to narrow semi-massive sulphide bands. Six short drill holes were completed at that time with hole GZ-09-02 encountering 0.34% Ni, 0.16% Cu and 0.02% Co over 5.9 m from 45.0-50.9 m.

Exploration diamond drilling work completed in 2009 and 2010 on the Night Danger nickel-copper showing reported a nine metre wide section of stringers and blebs of sulphide which assayed 0.57% Ni and 0.45% Cu at a drill depth of 79m in hole ND-09-1. Two sections within this interval assayed greater than 1% nickel. Drill hole ND-10-1 intersected 4.53% Ni over 0.7m at a drill depth of 57.5m (Source; MNDM assessment files and Canadian Arrow Mines Limited news release dated June 1, 2010).

Mark Appleby, President and CEO of Tartisan stated, “The Glatz and Night Danger nickel-copper showings display similar nickel and copper tenors as what we find near surface at our Kenbridge Nickel Deposit. Acquisition of these showings complements the company’s larger objective of developing the Kenbridge Nickel Deposit into an operating mine with a central milling facility.”

About Tartisan Nickel Corp.

Tartisan Nickel Corp. is a Canadian based mineral exploration and development company which owns; the Kenbridge Nickel Project in northwestern Ontario; the Sill Lake Silver property in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario as well as the Don Pancho Manganese-Zinc-Lead-Silver Project in Peru. The Company has an equity stake in; Eloro Resources Limited, Class 1 Nickel and Technologies Limited and Peruvian Metals Corp.

Tartisan Nickel Corp. common shares are listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE:TN; US-OTC:TTSRF; FSE:A2D). Currently, there are 101,603,550 shares outstanding (107,203,550 fully diluted).

For further information, please contact Mr. D. Mark Appleby, President & CEO and a Director of the Company, at 416-804-0280 ([email protected]). Additional information about Tartisan can be found at the Company’s website at www.tartisannickel.com or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

St-Georges $SX.ca Has Secured the Ownership of All Mineral Licenses in the Republic of Iceland $NNX.ca $OM.ca $ICM.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 10:10 AM on Monday, October 26th, 2020
  • Completed the acquisition of Melmi EHF, the Icelandic corporation that owned the majority interest in the Thor Gold Project
  • Acquisition allows St-Georges to control its destiny and plan its exploration campaigns with no interference

Reykjavik – TheNewswire – October 26, 2020 St-Georges Eco-Mining Corp. (CSE:SX) (CNSX:SX.CN)(OTC:SXOOF) (FSE:85G1) is pleased to report that it has completed the acquisition of Melmi EHF, the Icelandic corporation that owned the majority interest in the Thor Gold Project and the remainder or the Icelandic mineral licenses not already controlled by St-Georges.

This transformative acquisition gives total control over the mineral licenses of the Republic of Iceland to St-Georges, making it the only junior exploration company to own all the mineral rights of a western country. This acquisition allows St-Georges to control its destiny and plan its exploration campaigns with no interference. It also gives the Company’s geological team access to extensive libraries of geological data, a large number of historical mineral samples and a well-maintained and secured national core shack that will be useable for future development. Furthermore, all the diamond drill cores from the Thor Gold project are now in the Company’s ownership and possession. The Company expects to be able to resample these cores in the process of elaborating its maiden NI 43-101 Gold-Silver and Copper resource estimate on the Thor Gold Project.

The Melmi EHF Acquisition

As previously disclosed in a press release on July 2, the Corporation will pay up to CA$775,000 in consideration of all the Melmi EHF shares as follows:

  1. (i)pay $65,000 upon the execution of the definitive share purchase agreement (the “Definitive Agreement”)
  2. (ii)pay an additional $60,000 on the earlier of: (a) 90 days of execution of the Definitive Agreement; and (b) the start of drilling on the Thor Gold Project;
  3. (iii)issue $400,000 of non-transferable debentures of the Corporation bearing a 6% annual interest, maturing 3 years from issuance (the “Maturity Date”), of $100,000 will be convertible into common shares in the capital of SX (the “SX Shares”) at a deemed price of $0.10 per SX Shares, $150,000 at a deemed price of $0.15 per SX Shares, and $150,000 at a deemed price of $0.20 per SX Shares; and
  4. (iv) as additional consideration, subject to and upon all the Licences Application having been granted, issue $250,000 non-transferable debentures of SX bearing a 6% annual interest, maturing 3 years from issuance, and convertible into SX Shares at a deemed price of $0.20 per SX Shares.

Iceland Operational Update

In September, the Corporation drilled a reversed circulation (RC) drill hole for a total length of 124 meters.

In October, reconnaissance and follow-up fieldwork was conducted in Vopnafjordur (Vopna) and Trollaskagi (Trolla) projects. Mineralization bearing outcrops were identified and sampled and brought to St-Georges’ secure facilities in Reykjavik for petrographic analysis. Some of the

se samples were prepared to be sent for assays to ALS Laboratories in Dublin, Ireland. Management expects that the results of these essays will become available later this year, and the Company expects to report on it as soon as the information becomes available.

Picture 1, Outcrop on Trolla Gold Project

Picture 2. Outcrop on Trolla Gold Project

Picture 3. Close up of a Quartz Vein from an Outcrop on Trolla

Picture 4 & 5: Quartz Vein from Trolla Outcrop (Picture 3) Under Magnifying glass (10X)

Picture 5. Magnified Quartz vein from Trolla Outcrop gold is associated with pyrite in Iceland

Picture 6. Outcrop at Trolla Gold Project

Picture 7. Water Stream over Outcrop at Vopna Gold.

About Iceland

Iceland climate, location, access and infrastructure (Histed,R,2010)

Located in the North Atlantic, approximately midway between Greenland and Great Britain, the warm North Atlantic Current ensures that the climate in Iceland, described as subpolar, oceanic, has generally higher temperatures than locations of similar latitude throughout the world. Regions or places that have similar climate are Tierra del Fuego, the Aleutian Islands and Alaskan Peninsula. Although Iceland lies close to the Arctic, its coasts remain ice-free year-round.

As can be expected, the southern coast is generally warmer, wetter and windier than the northern coast. The lower-lying, inland areas in the north are the most arid, although snowfall in the north during the winter months is greater than in the south.

Historically, recorded temperature extremes for the country are 30.5 C and -38.0C. The high in Reykjavik was 26.2C in 2008, and the low there was -24.5C in 1918. Although the Icelandic climate can be harsh, the GI-Melmi JV completed a drilling program at Thormodsdalur (Thor Gold Project) from November 2005 through May 2006 without undue difficulty. In the north, the increased snowfall would make an effort such as this more difficult. Reconnaissance is to be limited to the summer months.

Iceland’s infrastructure is well developed and modern. Road construction was begun around the start of the 20th century and peaked during the 1980’s. The roads are well constructed and maintained asphalt, although some gravel roads are still found. The current road system connects most of the larger towns and villages and is mostly confined to the coastal areas. Currently, there are a total of 12,691 kilometers of roads in Iceland that includes 3,262 kilometers of paved surface. Inland road access diminishes to dirt roads to no roads making access to some areas difficult, requiring foot travel or helicopter support. There are no railroads in Iceland.

Geological Setting

Iceland occurs at the junction of two large physical structures; the Mid Atlantic Ridge and the Greenland-Iceland-Faeroes Ridge (Figure 9). At this intersection, the mantle is hotter and less dense than the surrounding mantle. The mantle material rises as a result of heat and chemical-related density differences resulting in a dome in the crust above. This hotspot is causing a higher rate of extrusive volcanism at this point on the Mid Atlantic Ridge, which has, in turn, caused the region to be built up to a level more than 3 kilometers above the surrounding seafloor and covers an area of more than 350,000 km2. This is known as the Iceland Basalt Plateau. The portion of the plateau above sea level is now the country of Iceland (Martin, et al., 2007).

Tectonic Setting

In the Mid Atlantic Rift environment, the central portions of Iceland have moved outwards, away from the zones of active rifting and crustal development such that oldest rocks occur towards the margins and youngest in the center. Due to the migration of the hotspot to the south-east with time, an asymmetry has been imparted to the shape of the island. Currently, the hotspot lies under the south-eastern quadrant of the island (Corbett, 2004). This area now denotes the zone of active rifting and volcanism. Figure 10 shows the geology of Iceland defined by tectonic zones that coincide with the ages of the rocks.

Principal Tectonic Zones

The significant rift systems that have focused volcanism through time are noted below.

  • – The Snaefellsnes-Skagi Rift Zone in western Iceland was active in the 16-6.5 m.y. period. – The Reykjanes-Langjokull Rift Zone in central western Iceland resulted in the development of the Reykjanes Peninsula from about 6 my. – The North Volcanic Rift Zone became active from 3-4 my and extends to the present time. – An Eastern Volcanic Rift Zone is developing at this time.

Significant quantities of felsic intrusive and extrusive rocks occur in the dominantly basaltic sequence, and the felsic rocks locally display gold-anomalous hydrothermal alteration (Corbett, 2004).

Structurally, NE fractures reflect the spreading centre direction and are, therefore, some of the most numerous and laterally extensive fracture patterns, commonly evident as normal faults that may be exploited by dykes. NS and ENE fractures are developed as conjugate fractures during the NW-SE extension.

VIDEO: Tartisan Nickel Corp. $TN.ca – Battery Grade Nickel For The Electric Vehicle Revolution $RNX.ca $TSLA $NOB.ca $SHL.ca $CNC.ca $FPC.ca $NICO.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 11:29 AM on Friday, October 16th, 2020
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TARTISAN:

  • Kenbridge Nickel Mineral Resources of 7.5 Mt at 0.58% Ni and 0.32% Cu for a total of 95 Mlb of contained nickel.
    • An additional 0.985 Mt at 1.0% Ni and 0.62% Cu (22 Mlb contained nickel) of Inferred Mineral Resources.
  • Company owns 4M common shares ($6.6m as of Oct 15th, 2020) of Eloro Resources (ELO:TSX-V) and 2 percent NSR in their La Victoria property
  • Owns close to 1,700,000 shares of Class 1 Nickel (NICO:CSE) through vending of Tartisan’s Alexo-Kelex nickel asset in 2018
  • Strong management team with proven experience in advancing projects to production readiness

Tartisan Nickel $TN.ca: Worldwide Vehicle Electrification to Drive Nickel Demand $NICO.ca $RNX.ca $TSLA $NOB.ca $SHL.ca $CNC.ca $FPC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:58 AM on Wednesday, October 7th, 2020

By Ellsworth Dickson

Nickel is a most useful base metal. Because rust never sleeps, some 75% of nickel produced is used to make stainless steel, most being what is known as Class 2 nickel. Class 1 nickel, or pure nickel, is used for making steel alloys, storage batteries for laptops and cell phones and, of increasing importance, electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

Nickel is part of the cathode in a Li-ion battery. It is these Li-ion batteries that are kick-starting a sea change in the nickel market.

Combining all uses, nickel demand grew 9.4% during 2018 and 2018 – outperforming all other major base metals – making it a US$20 billion per year industry. In 2018, Canadian exports of nickel-based products totaled $4.2 billion with Canada ranking fifth in the world for mine production.

Nickel prices are currently trading around US$14,000/tonne, or US$6.42/lb, up more than 30% from March lows and near its highest levels in November 2019.

And while stainless steel and other nickel usages continue to steadily grow as the world’s population increases, it is the EV market that is expected to see a huge growth in nickel demand, according to senior miner Glencore. For the first time, in 2017, sales of EVs passed the 1 million mark; however, this is just the beginning.

According to the International Energy Agency, (IEA), sales of electric cars topped 2.1 million globally in 2019, surpassing 2018 – already a another record year – to boost the stock to 7.2 million electric cars, 47% of which were in China. It’s hard to believe that in 2010, there were only 17,000 EVs on the road. Electric cars, which accounted for 2.6% of global car sales and about 1% of global car stock in 2019, registered a 40% year-on-year increase.

In their recent report, the IEA stated that nine countries had more than 100,000 electric cars on the road. At least 20 countries reached market shares above 1%. However, this growth has sometimes been disrupted by various events and circumstances that negatively affected EV sales.

Deloitte’s outlook shows EV sales reaching 21 million vehicles in 2030 as the cost of manufacturing batteries falls significantly and range anxiety becomes less of a concern. Another challenge for would-be EV buyers is availability of charging stations out of town and, in tow, lacking of charging stations in older apartment buildings.

This huge increase in EV sales will be even more jump-started with the introduction of electric pickup trucks, SUVs, delivery trucks and semi tractor trailers. This could cause a supply crunch for Class 1 nickel.

Interestingly, the IEA noted that electric two/three-wheelers will continue to represent the lion’s share of the total electric vehicle fleet, as this category is most suited to rapid transition to electric drive. The future electric two/three-wheeler fleet is concentrated in China, India and the ten countries of ASEAN.

Wood Mackenzie predicts an increase in nickel demand for EVs from 128 kt in 2019 to 265 kt in 2025 and 1.23 Mt in 2040, increasing nickel battery demand from 4% in 2018 to 31% by 2040.

It has been estimated that by 2025 the world need almost 1 million tonnes per year of new nickel supply. By 2030, 2.5 million tonnes, or double that of today, is required.

Wood Mackenzie is forecasting an average annual nickel deficit of 60,000 tonnes through to 2027 – a situation that bodes well for nickel explorers, developers and producers.

About one-half of the world’s nickel supply is suitable for use in batteries such as the nickel sulphide mines in Sudbury, Voisey’s Bay and Russia.

Those companies involved in discovering and mining nickel deposits are participating in a massive unstoppable global event with the electrification of the world’s vehicles – a good place to be.

Tartisan Nickel Corp. [TN-CSE; TTSRF-OTC; A2D-FSE] has favourably positioned itself to participate in the growing electric vehicle sector with its advanced-stage Kenbridge nickel-copper-cobalt project in northwestern Ontario.

While copper and cobalt are important for the EV battery and vehicle market, Elon Musk of Tesla Motors recently stated that nickel remains a key ingredient to its rapidly improving EV battery technology. Stainless steel production still accounts for the majority of nickel usage; however, commodity research firm Roskill has stated that the current EV nickel demand will grow from 4% to 15-20% of the market.

Longer term, California Governor Gavin Newsom just signed an executive order that will ban the sale of new gas-powered passengers cars starting in 2025.

Tartisan’s Kenbridge Project, located near Atikwa Lake in the Kenora-Fort Frances area, has undergone an updated mineral resource estimate.

The updated estimates were done for pit constrained and out-of-pit nickel, copper, and cobalt resources. Total Measured & Indicated Mineral Resources, based on a Net Smelter Return (NSR) cut-off value of CDN$15/tonne for pit constrained Mineral Resources and CDN$6/tonne NSR for out-of-pit Mineral Resources is 7.5 Mt at 0.58% nickel and 0.32% copper for a total of 95 Mlb of contained nickel. An additional 0.985 Mt at 1.0% nickel and 0.62% copper (22 Mlb contained nickel) were calculated as Inferred Resources. Pit constrained Measured & Indicated Resources total 5.27 Mt of 0.45% nickel, 0.26% copper and 0.009% cobalt at an NSR cut-off value of CDN$15/tonne. The out-of-pit Measured & Indicated Resources total 2.23 Mt of 0.86% nickel; 0.45% copper; and 0.006% cobalt. Inferred Mineral Resources out-of-pit total 0.985 Mt at 1.00% nickel, 0.62% copper and 0.003% cobalt, at an NSR cut-off value of CDN$60/tonne.

Mark Appleby, President and CEO, notes that the deposit is open to depth with the highest nickel grades having a strong down-plunge orientation such as hole KB07-180 that returned 2.95% nickel and  0.82% copper over 21.5 metres, including 7.2% nickel and 0.67% copper over 5.5 metres.

Highlights of an Updated PEA were: average nickel recovery life-of-mine was 86%; recovered nickel was 84.6 Mlb; NPV7.5% pre-tax was $253M; and IRR% pre-tax was 65%.

The Kenbridge property has good access to roads and power. It has a shaft to a depth of 622 metres, with level stations at 45-metre intervals below the shaft collar and two levels developed at 107 metres and 152 metres below the shaft collar.

Tartisan Nickel has planned a surface exploration and definition drilling plan, in addition to geotechnical, metallurgical and environmental work to advance the project in the upcoming 2020 winter season and into summer 2021.

The company also owns equity stakes in Eloro Resources Ltd. that is exploring the 99%-optioned ISKA ISKA Project, a gold-silver-zinc-lead target with a 3,500-metre underground drilling program underway in the Potosi district, Bolivia, and the low-sulphidation epithermal 82%-owned La Victoria gold-silver project in Peru.

Tartisan is a shareholder in Class 1 Nickel and Technologies that holds the past-producing Alexo-Kelex Dundonald nickel project near Timmins, Ontario in which Tartisan has a 0.5% NSR. The property hosts an estimated total NI 43-101 compliant Indicated Mineral Resources of 571.7k tonnes averaging 0.77% nickel plus Inferred Resources.

Being a prospect generator, Tartisan spun out the Alexco-Kelex Project to Class 1 Nickel as well as the La Victoria Project to Eloro.

Tartisan is a shareholder in Peruvian Metals Corp. that is operating a toll mill in Peru and announced an exploration and bulk sampling program on the high-grade gold-silver-copper Palta Dorada Project.

Tartisan also has a 100% interest in the Sill Lake silver-lead project near Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

Tartisan’s investment portfolio is in excess of $7 million which can provide funds for its activities and avoids share dilution through further share issuances. The company has 101.6 million shares outstanding.

Though its acquisitions and investments, Tartisan Nickel is poised to benefit from the burgeoning EV battery sector as well as its precious metal and base metal prospects.

Garibaldi Resources Corp. [GGI-TSXV; GGIFF-OTC; RQM-FSE] has been following up its 2017 magmatic nickel massive sulphide discovery in the Golden Triangle region of northwestern British Columbia.

Located on Nickel Mountain, the flagship E&L deposit hosts nickel, copper, cobalt, platinum, palladium gold and silver. The latest drill results from the 2020 program have extended the strike length of the mineralized E&L system from 200 metres to over 650 metres to the east, where the intrusion remains open.

The 100%-owned project is the Golden Triangle’s first magmatic nickel-copper-rich massive sulphide system in the heart of the prolific Eskay Camp. The 2017 discovery drill hole EL-17-14 intersected 8.3% nickel, 4.2% copper, 0.19% cobalt, 1.96 g/t platinum, 4.5 g/t palladium, 1.1 g/t gold and 11.1 g/t silver over 16.75 metres starting 100.4 metres downhole, within a broader 40.4-metre core length highlighted by 3.9% nickel and 2.4% copper.

In February, 2019, Garibaldi confirmed an even shallower new zone (Northeast Zone) with drill hole EL-18-33 that returned 7.7% nickel and 2.95% copper over 4.8 metres within a broader interval of 49 metres grading 1.34% nickel and 0.89% copper (core length) plus cobalt, platinum, palladium, gold and silver credits.

Diamond drilling continues to build out on the persistent widespread nickel-copper mineralization, which includes massive sulphides featuring top-tier nickel-copper grades in addition to palladium, platinum, cobalt, gold, silver and strategic PGE (platinum group element) rare metals, including rhodium.

Hole EL-20-88, collared 350 metres east of pivotal hole EL-19-80, intersected 142.79 metres of mineralized taxitic gabbro and olivine pyroxenite along trend of the E&L system. This large step-out hole exhibited an E&L geochemical signature which expanded the strike length of the E&L gabbroic intrusion to over 650 metres within a 2-km structural corridor that remains untested and open.

Hole El-20-89 has produced the widest mineralized intercept so far from 71.34 metres to 223 metres returning nickel-copper mineralization over 151.6 metres grading 0.56% nickel and 0.61% copper. This intersect included 80.53 metres of 0.88% nickel and 0.85% copper, which expanded the northeastern massive sulphide zone six metres south, the LDZ 15 metres north and the Second Chamber 45 metres west.

Semi-massive veins along the contact edge with sediments assayed 0.33 metres (100.54 to 100.87 m) of 6.87% nickel and 1.69% copper, and 0.15 metres (147.48 to 147.63 m) of 3.04% nickel and 1.62% copper.

Garibaldi has drilled 10 additional holes at the E&L project on Nickel Mountain and is up to hole 94 so far this season. With new geochemical and geophysical targets located at depth, the immediate goal of the drill program is to follow the steeply-plunging E&L gabbro to the east. The conductors detected off hole will be drill tested for mineralization.

Garibaldi owns 100% of more than 200 km2 in Eskay Camp, including newly discovered high-grade gold quartz vein system at Casper, located 15 km north of Nickel Mountain. Assays are pending. The company also has four projects in Mexico.

Garibaldi’s nickel discovery is a unique development in the Golden Triangle with excellent potential for significant expansion at a time of increasing nickel demand from the electric vehicle market.

Just 12 km north of the E&L nickel deposit is Garibaldi’s 100%-owned Casper high-grade gold quartz vein discovery. The Casper gold vein is a strategic low elevation target (420 metres) within a km of road access and hydroelectric power.

Field crews collected 165 samples within 250 metres north of and 250 metres south of the northwest-southeast-striking Casper vein. High-grade grab samples at Casper were reported up to 249 g/t gold and assays for 86 Casper channel samples have been released with up to 92 g/t gold and 5.69 g/t gold over 52 metres.

Mechanical trenching at the Casper gold quartz vein has further uncovered the high-grade vein over more than 120 metres, from the initial 43 metres of hand trenching exposing the discovery.

The quartz vein remains open with mineralized rock samples extending along trend for 330 metres within a 500-metre gold-in-soil and MMI (mobile metal ion) geochemical anomaly.

The latest assays from 61 channel sample assays returned gold grades ranging from 0.676 g/t gold up to 93.29 g/t gold from a channel sample that contained visible gold.

The company has 116 million shares outstanding.

Sama Resources Inc. [SME-TSXV; SAMMF-OTC.PK] is a Canada-based mineral exploration and development company with projects in West Africa, in particular, the Samapleu nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum group metals project in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast).

Sama’s projects are located approximately 600 km northwest of Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire and adjacent to the Guinean border in West Africa.

In 2010, Sama discovered nickel-copper-PGE mineralization, including veins and lenses of high grades material near surface at numerous locations within the then discovered Yacouba intrusive complex.

In October, 2017, Sama announced that it had entered into a binding term sheet in view of forming a strategic partnership with HPX TechCo Inc., a private mineral exploration company in which mining entrepreneur Robert Friedland is a significant stakeholder, in order to develop the Samapleu Project. HPX is spending $18 million on the project.

Since March 2010, Sama has performed surface IP and Mag surveys as well as Airborne Mag-Radiometric and HTEM surveys and 388 boreholes for a total of 54,000 metres of drilling. Mineral resources assessments have been completed at one site, the Samapleu deposit, aiming for a modest scale Ni-Cu open pit mining and processing operation, while continuing to explore newly discovered prospective ground. Sama’s objective is to delineate massive sulphide reservoirs that could be the source of these high-grade nickel–copper-cobalt-palladium lenses. The newly discovered Yacouba complex can be compared to other world class bases metals camps like Jinchuan in China and Voisey’s Bay in Canada, etc.

Highlights of a Preliminary Economic Assessment at Samapleu, include average annual production of 3,900 tonnes of carbonyl nickel powder, 8,400 tonnes of carbonyl iron powder and 14,100 tonnes of copper concentrate over a 20-year mine life. Capital costs are estimated to be $282 million, including a contingency of $37 million with operational costs of $23.96/tonne milled.

Pre-tax Net Present Value (8% discount rate) is $615 million and an Internal Rate of Return of 32.5%. After-tax NPV (8% discount rate) of $391 million and an after-tax IRR of 27.2%.

Geophysical activities have resumed with downhole electromagnetic surveys planned in four deep drill holes at the Yepleu target zone and in one deep drill hole at the Bounta target zone. The holes at Yepleu and Bounta were drilled in the early months of 2020, with both zones part of the large Yacouba Ultramafic-Mafic intrusive complex discovered by Sama in 2010.

Future production will be managed by a JV controlled 66⅔% by Sama Nickel Corp. a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sama Resources, and 33⅓% by SODEMI.  Sama Resources has $2.5 million in its treasury and holds $12.4 million in securities with no debt. The company has 216,466,410 shares outstanding.

The Samapleu nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum group metals project is located in mining-friendly West Africa, home to a number of successful mining operations. The polymetallic project hosts a suite of metals – nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum group metals – all of which are currently in demand.

Source: https://resourceworld.com/?na=v&nk=7981-3d5ac5d089&id=503

Nickel Market – Is A Boom or Bust Ahead Of Us? SPONSOR: Tartisan Nickel $TN.ca $NICO.ca $RNX.ca $TSLA $NOB.ca $SHL.ca $CNC.ca $FPC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:09 AM on Tuesday, October 6th, 2020
Tc logo in black

Volatility in the gold market continues.

I’m not sure when it will end.

With the gold market moving mostly sideways, base metals have been on my mind as of late.

Copper, zinc and nickel are all seeing nice strength in their price.

Will it continue?

That’s a great question.

One of the biggest lessons I have learned over the last few years is that markets are complex and, therefore, impossible to predict with any consistency.

As such, I don’t let my view on the metal price dictate how I invest my money in the junior resource sector.

Remember, junior resource companies are speculations on management’s ability to pick the right projects, form action plans to add value and, of course, raise the money needed to execute on their action plan.

Without successful execution, it doesn’t matter how high the metal price goes, there is a high probability of losing money.

With that said, I do like to understand the metals markets as best I can and form a view of where the market is and where it is going.

Let’s take a closer look at the nickel market.

The Musk Effect

“In the short-term, the market is a voting machine and in the long-term, it’s a weighing machine.” ~ Rick Rule

Sentiment or narrative can be a major driver of a market in the short term, however, in the long term, the fundamentals of a company or a metals market need to be solid for gains to be sustained and perpetuated.

The cream always rises to the top.

In my view, the current nickel market is driven more by sentiment than its underlying fundamentals and, therefore, I’m skeptical of whether the nickel price can continue on its trajectory upwards.

Nickel’s bullish sentiment, I believe, has been derived from the comments made by Elon Musk, Billionaire Founder of Tesla, earlier this year.

Musk made a reference to nickel during one of Tesla’s post-earnings conference calls saying,

“Well, I’d just like to re-emphasize, any mining companies out there, please mine more nickel. Okay. Wherever you are in the world, please mine more nickel and don’t wait for nickel to go back to some long — some high point that you experienced some five years ago, whatever. Go for efficiency, obviously environmentally friendly nickel mining at high volume. Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time, if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way. So hopefully this message goes out to all mining companies. Please get nickel.”

In my view, these comments set off two narratives;

The first, and arguably the most potent, is Musk’s request for efficient and environmentally sensitive nickel mining.

The second is Musk’s general request for more nickel to be produced.

Environmentally Sensitive Nickel Mining

A big question for me is whether Musk really understands what he is asking for when he says,

“Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time, if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way.”

Efficient and environmentally sensitive mining, I find that very vague.

Does it mean he is making a distinction between nickel sulphide and laterite mining?

Or, does it mean, nickel mining operations that derive their power from renewable sources?

Or, is it nickel mining operations that are carbon neutral?

If this narrative is driving the market, more questions need to be asked.

Class #1 Nickel – Sulphide Versus Laterite

For those who don’t know, nickel sulphide mines produce nickel concentrates that are sold to smelters, which then convert the concentrate into the chemical nickel sulphate which is used by battery manufacturers.

In the case of nickel laterite mines, the ore is mined and then processed through a high pressure acid leach (HPAL) circuit, which is then further processed to produce nickel sulphate.

To add, the HPAL process is more complex, requiring more steps to get to the end product and, generally speaking, has a higher carbon foot print due to emissions from the process.

It, therefore, could be the distinction that Musk is trying to make with his comments.

It’s hard to tell.

Renewable Energy Source

No matter how you slice it, most of the energy generated worldwide is still derived from fossil fuels.

Therefore, even if the mining operation is fully electrical, to be deemed environmentally sensitive, you must determine how the electricity was produced.

Was it via nuclear power or renewables?

In fact, you really have to go a step further and realize that the dams for the hydro power, the construction and materials used in nuclear power plants, the solar panels and the wind turbines were all made with metals and/or concrete, which were mined and by equipment that was most likely fueled by fossil fuels.

My point?

Stating a nickel mine has to produce its nickel in an environmentally sensitive way needs to be further defined before it’s a realistic narrative driving the nickel market.

With this said, at the moment, I’m only aware of one junior nickel company that can actually say that it has the potential to be carbon neutral.

That company is FPX Nickel Corp. (FPX:TSXV).

This isn’t meant to be an advertisement for FPX, but the reality is, it’s the only junior nickel company that I can see could even come close to fitting Musk’s criteria.

Remember from my update on FPX earlier this year, I mentioned that UBC and Trent University were collaborating on a research program which is investigating carbon capture and storage at mining sites.

FPX’s Decar Nickel District is at the centre of this research as the study looks to maximize the reaction between carbon dioxide and magnesium silicate mine tailings.

The Decar mine waste is high in Brucite, which makes it a prime candidate for carbon sequestration.

It’s, therefore, possible that a future mine at Decar could be carbon neutral.

Class #1 Nickel

On to the 2nd narrative – Class #1 nickel supply.

I’m bullish on nickel; my bullishness is supported by the overall fundamentals of the market and the potential for the increase in Class #1 nickel demand.

For those who don’t know, 2/3s of nickel demand is from stainless steel.

Therefore, undoubtedly, if you’re bullish on nickel, you’re bullish on stainless steel.

While stainless steel represents the backbone of the nickel market, however, it’s battery demand that holds the potential to really disrupt the nickel market in the future.

Currently, battery manufacturers make up less than 5% of the global 2 Mt nickel market.

Roughly half of the 2Mt market is derived from Class #1 nickel and this is where it gets really interesting.

In 2018, Glencore commissioned CRU to model the metal requirements of a 30% adoption rate of EVs in the global vehicle market.

The results revealed the following:

As you can see, a 30% adoption rate would result in roughly 1.1 Mt of Class #1 nickel demand.

This is interesting because, as I mentioned, the current Class #1 nickel demand worldwide is roughly 1 Mt.

Given the long duration and expense of exploration and development, which is at least 10 years from discovery to construction, it begs the question, where will the nickel come from?

This is a great question and really speaks to the amount of disruption that could occur.

The next most obvious question, therefore, is what are the odds of the EV adoption rate hitting 30% within the next 10 years?

For me, it will be determined by the following points:

  • In the short term, what is the affect of a 2nd wave of Covid-19 in the last QTR of 2020?

There are a lot of unanswered questions regarding the last quarter of the year, especially when it comes to a 2nd wave of Covid-19. Further lockdowns would be devastating to the economy.

  • What is the health of the global economy?

High unemployment and a stagnant economy could stall adoption of EVs for as long as the recession or depression lasts.

  • Will governments around the world give further incentives to purchase EVs?

Especially in the case of poor global economics, I believe governments will have to continue, if not increase, subsidies for EV adoption. For example, we have seen in China, when the subsidy is removed, people stop buying them.

  • EV infrastructure spending

Large scale EV adoption will require more EV infrastructure to be built, at home, at work and in the public realm – malls, restaurants, highways, etc.

If left to the free market, I would say we are still a ways away from adopting EVs into our everyday life.

But we don’t live in a free market.

Governments around the world are becoming larger and larger parts of the economy and, therefore, destroy any of the logic or economic factors that usually control markets.

I can’t say with any certainty what will or won’t happen, but what I can say is that if the government decides that the push is toward renewable energy and EV adoption, that is where the money will flow.

For instance, it’s rumoured that the Canadian government will soon unveil their version of “The Green New Deal.”

If true, I would guess that it’s very likely we would see some incentive for EV adoption.

The Canadian market is small and, therefore, I don’t foresee it actually making a discernible difference to the EV market on a whole, but if this is indicative of a broader trend, things might actually fall in place.

Future Role of Nickel Laterites

As I outlined earlier, nickel laterites can be processed into Class #1 nickel with the help of the HPAL process.

Back in 2018, Tsinghan, a Chinese company, made the headlines within the nickel space as they toted the ability to construct a 50,000 tonne per year HPAL plant in Indonesia in just over a year, for $700ishM.

Tsinghan has a great reputation in the market for the pioneering of the NPI processing, which revolutionized the nickel market in the early 2000s.

This proclamation was, therefore, taken literally.

The nickel price sunk, as the market determined that the affect of an increase in demand to Class #1 market over time would be quelled if Tsinghan had this ability to construct a HPAL plant of this size, on the tight construction schedule and for under a billion dollars.

In the 2 years since, Tsinghan has experienced many of the historical delays associated with building a HPAL plant.

They have delayed construction and added upfront capital expenditures to continue to move forward with development.

With that said, in my view, I do believe that Tsinghan will be successful in constructing the plant.

Also, I think that as long as the Class #1 nickel market doesn’t require a certain environmental standard in the future, HPAL processing of nickel laterites will help quell some of the disruption caused by the potential surge in Class #1 nickel demand, albeit at a nickel price higher than US$10/lbs.

Nickel Market Fundamentals

Supply and demand fundamentals must be solid for any market to be strong over the long-term.

As I said, in my view, the current uptick in the nickel price is mainly driven by sentiment rather than underlying supply and demand fundamentals.

With that said, I think that there are many points to be bullish about.

Nickel Inventory

Over the last 5 years, the LME nickel inventories have been trending in the right direction.

As you can see from the graph, the inventory levels have steadily fallen since 2017, with a dramatic draw down in 2019.

The dramatic draw, however, was met with almost as dramatic a spike in the 10 months since, and now sits above the 200kt level.

The LME warehouses an inventory of Class #1 and is a key factor in gauging the health of the nickel market.

If we were to begin to see inventories drawn down once again, it would be very bullish for the nickel price, with the proviso that the reason for its depletion could be linked to a sustained source of demand or a permanent loss of supply.

As it stands right now, in a post pandemic world, nickel market analysts are calling for a surplus of supply to end 2020.

This is in sharp contrast to the pre-pandemic nickel market, where analysts were calling for a supply deficit.

NorNickel Corp Presentation – May 2020

Nickel Sulphide Supply

What I find most interesting about nickel sulphides is that not only are their production figures predicted to curtail over the coming years, but the amount of projects awaiting development is low.

 Why is this?

In my mind, there are 2 reasons:

  • First, a bear market in the nickel price, which pre-dates 2016, has stunted exploration.
  • Second is the fact that exploring for these deep deposits is very costly. Drilling for a deposit at depths greater than 500m adds up quickly.  Plus, if you add in the costs associated with tough terrain and weather, you have the perfect storm for short and costly drill seasons.

NOTE: A high percentage of nickel sulphide exploration is concentrated in cold climates – Russia, Finland, Greenland and Canada. Why? Most of the discoverable nickel sulphide deposits found around the equator or in hotter and wetter climates have mostly been converted, by nature, into nickel laterite deposits. Thus, nickel laterite deposits account for up to 70% of the known crustal nickel deposits on the earth.

Constrained nickel sulphide supply has the potential to be very bullish for the nickel price moving forward, however, it will have to be mixed with strong demand to be fully realized.

Nickel Demand

In my view, nickel demand is the key to understanding where the nickel price is headed in the future.

As I outlined earlier in the article, increased demand for Class #1 nickel from battery manufacturers and/or speciality steel makers has the potential to dramatically disrupt the nickel market.

Demand in the range of 500kt to 1Mt of Class #1 nickel per year by 2030 would very quickly reveal the short fall in supply from the nickel sulphide producers, and require much higher nickel prices to allow HPAL processing to economically participate in actively supplying the market.

Concluding Remarks

Generally speaking, I’m very bullish on the long-term potential for higher nickel prices.

With that said, I remain skeptical of the short-term longevity of the current run in the nickel price.

The global economy remains in disarray and, although governments have pledged unlimited amounts of QE to stimulate inflation, I’m still left with many questions about the remaining 3.5 months in 2020.

How will the U.S. election result affect both the U.S. and world economy?

Does a Trump re-election mean the broader stock market can continue upward?

Does a Biden win result in more socialist government policy? If so, what is the fall-out for the American economy?

Will there be a 2nd wave of Covid-19? If so, will governments revert back to complete lockdowns of their economies?

Is the U.S. headed to war with China? The world’s two largest economies remain at odds, with potential conflicts on a range of topics such as, the South China Sea, Covid-19, and human rights violations.

In my view, the next 3.5 months should provide us with a few of the answers to these questions, which will allow us to see more clearly into where things are headed in 2021.

In the end, the fact remains that markets are impossible to predict with any consistency.

Instead, I believe it’s pertinent to remain focused on the reasons why we are speculating in the junior companies.

Understand why a company is undervalued and how they will unlock that value through the execution of their action plans.

Time will tell where we are headed.

Until next time.

SOURCE: https://www.kitco.com/commentaries/2020-09-21/Nickel-market-is-a-boom-or-bust-ahead-of-us.html

Tartisan Nickel Corp. $TN.ca Reports on Plans for the Don Pancho Polymetallic Project in Peru $NICO.ca $RNX.ca $TSLA $NOB.ca $SHL.ca $CNC.ca $FPC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:17 AM on Thursday, September 24th, 2020

TORONTO, ON / September 24, 2020 / Tartisan Nickel Corp. (CSE:TN; OTC PINK:TTSRF; FSE:A2D) (“Tartisan”, or the “Company”) is pleased to update shareholders on the Company’s operations in the Republic of Peru. The Don Pancho polymetallic Silver-Lead-Zinc project (“Don Pancho”) located in the department of Lima, Peru, 110 kilometres north-northeast of Lima, comprising of two concessions totalling 849 hectares. The project is located in a prolific polymetallic mineral belt in central Peru with several operating mines in the area, including Minas de Buenaventura’s silver-lead-zinc-manganese (Ag-Pb-Zn-Mn) Uchucchacua mine located 66 kilometres north of Don Pancho which produced more than 15 million ounces of silver in 2018.

Previous exploration on the property includes an extensive surface mapping and sampling program, geophysics, and a small diamond drilling program conducted by a private Peruvian company in 2014. Mapping and sampling by the previous operators defined two main mineralized zones. The main zone called “Yanapallaca” is an extensive NNW-SSE-trending breccia zone covering a surface area of over 800 metres in length and up to 200 metres in width. Numerous small old workings and three underground drifts exist within this zone. One of the adits crosscut a two metre wide massive sulphide vein grading 106 g/t Ag, 3.26% Pb, 17.56% Zn and 2.58% Mn. Other untested mineralized structures located within this zone that are exposed on surface include chip over 1 metre returning 406 g/t Ag and 27.05% Pb.

The second mineralized zone called “La Cruz” is located several hundreds of metres NE of Yanapallaca shows two mineralized trends. Sampling across the main N-S trend returned 96.6 g/t Ag, 5.53% Pb and 0.88% Zn over 1.50 metres with a crosscutting WNW-ESE structure grading 360 g/t Ag and 12.66% Pb over a 1 metre width. Very little work has been conducted by the previous operators on this prospective area.

Tartisan is pleased to announce the appointment of Carlos Agreda Minaya as the General Manager for Tartisan’s Peruvian subsidiary, Minera Tartisan Peru S.A.C. Mr. Agreda is an experienced manager with a MBA from Peru’s highly reputable ESAN program. Mr. Agreda has extensive experience in permitting, accounting and mineral processing. Mr. Agreda is very knowledgeable of the Company’s Don Pancho property and has submitted the necessary permits to start an underground bulk sampling program. Mr. Agreda is also the General Manager of Peruvian Metals Corp., a Canadian junior explorer in Peru with a processing plant located in Northern Peru where mineral from the Don Pancho will be processed.

Jeffrey Reeder, P.Geo, a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has prepared, supervised the preparation of, or approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this news release.

About Tartisan Nickel Corp.

Tartisan Nickel Corp. is a Canadian based mineral exploration and development company which owns; the Kenbridge Nickel Project in northwestern Ontario, the Sill Lake Silver Property in Sault St. Marie, Ontario as well as the Don Pancho Silver-Lead-Zinc Project in Peru. The Company has an equity stake in; Eloro Resources Limited, Class 1 Nickel & Technologies Limited and Peruvian Metals Corp.

Tartisan Nickel Corp. common shares are listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE:TN; US-OTC:TTSRF; FSE:A2D). Currently, there are 101,603,550 shares outstanding (107,203,550 fully diluted).

For further information, please contact Mr. Mark Appleby, President & CEO and a Director of Tartisan Nickel Corp. at 416-804-0280 ([email protected]). Additional information about Tartisan Nickel Corp. can be found at the Company’s website at www.tartisannickel.com or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.

The Canadian Securities Exchange (operated by CNSX Markets Inc.) has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release.

SOURCE: Tartisan Nickel Corp.