VANCOUVER,BC, Feb. 1, 2022 /CNW/ -
FPX Nickel Corp. (TSXV: FPX) (OTCQB: FPOCF) ("FPX" or
the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has commenced
an internal scoping study to further evaluate the option to produce
nickel sulphate for the electric vehicle ("EV") battery
supply chain from the high-grade nickel concentrate produced by the
Company's Baptiste Nickel Project ("Baptiste" or "the
Project") in central British Columbia. This study
incorporates the positive results of previous leaching testwork on
the clean, high-grade Baptiste nickel concentrate (63% nickel),
which confirmed the Project's potential to be a significant
supplier of high-purity feedstock for the EV battery market.
"We expect this scoping study to demonstrate that Baptiste could
become a globally significant producer of low-cost, low-carbon
nickel for electric vehicles for decades to come," commented
Martin Turenne, FPX's President and
CEO. "Baptiste's awaruite nickel mineralization has clear
technical advantages over sulphide and laterite ores for producing
nickel sulphate, owing to the extremely high nickel content and low
levels of impurities in the nickel concentrate produced in previous
metallurgical test programs."
"Our scoping work will evaluate the potential for the production
of low-carbon, battery-grade nickel sulphate from awaruite
mineralization in a simple three-stage process encompassing
beneficiation, pressure leaching, and solvent extraction,"
continued Mr. Turenne. "This three-stage processing route has
the potential to be more efficient and entail lower cost and carbon
emissions than the typically more complex processes required to
convert sulphide and laterite ores into nickel sulphate, as shown
in Figure 1 below."
Previous Testwork
Nickel mineralization at Baptiste is primarily present in
awaruite (Ni3Fe), a nickel-iron alloy composed of 75%
nickel and 25% iron. Nickel occurrence as awaruite ranges
from 83 to 92% at Baptiste, with the balance occurring as nickel
sulfide minerals, primarily pentlandite. Awaruite's high
nickel tenor (75%) uniquely allows the production of an extremely
high-grade flotation concentrate. Awaruite's distinct
characteristics of ferromagnetism, density, and active surface
properties allow the use of a conventional process flowsheet using
grinding, magnetic separation, and flotation. This simple
flowsheet has been demonstrated to consistently produce high-grade
flotation concentrates.
In comparison to typical nickel sulphide concentrates, the
Baptiste nickel flotation concentrate is notable for its extremely
high metal content and low level of sulphur and impurities, as
shown in Table 1.
Table 1 – Select Elemental and Mineral Content for Baptiste
Nickel Concentrate and Typical Nickel Sulphide Concentrate
Elements and
Minerals
|
Baptiste Awaruite
Nickel Concentrate
|
Nickel Sulphide
Concentrate
|
Nickel (Ni)
|
60-65%
|
8-21%
|
Iron (Fe)
|
30-32%
|
25-41%
|
Sulphur (S)
|
0.6%
|
14-31%
|
Cobalt (Co)
|
1%
|
0-1.2%
|
Copper (Cu)
|
0.7%
|
0-2.2%
|
Magnesium Oxide
(MgO)
|
1%
|
4-10%
|
Baptiste's awaruite nickel mineralization has significant
technical advantages over sulphide and laterite ores for producing
nickel sulphate, as follows:
- The efficient dissolution of Baptiste's high-grade concentrate
can eliminate the need for intermediate smelting prior to
downstream hydrometallurgical processing into nickel sulphate, as
required when treating conventional nickel sulphide
concentrates.
- Leaching of Baptiste's high-grade concentrate feedstock
requires a tangibly smaller pressure leaching footprint using
significantly lower pressure and temperature than the high-pressure
acid-leach ("HPAL") process used in nickel laterite
operations.
As described in the Company's January 7,
2020, news release, batch pressure leach tests of Baptiste's
nickel concentrate were undertaken at Sherritt Technologies's lab
in Fort Saskatchewan,
Alberta. These tests were conducted with pressure and
temperature conditions selected to approximate the proposed
commercial conditions.
Based on these test results, it is expected that the pregnant
leach solution produced from leaching Baptiste's flotation
concentrate will be an ideal feedstock for the production of nickel
sulphate. The low levels of impurities (notably iron) in the
pregnant leach solution suggest that downstream refinement into
sulphate products would require a relatively simple process with
favourable operating parameters. Confirmation of these
downstream processing steps is subject to future testing, including
testwork currently being conducted by FPX, the results of which are
anticipated in the third quarter of 2022 (see the Company's
December 8, 2021 news release for a
description of the ongoing metallurgical test program).
For reasons noted above, leach equipment sizing and operating
parameters for Baptiste's nickel concentrate is potentially
favourable to those in typical HPAL operations treating laterite
ore, such as the Ramu Nickel Cobalt Operation in Papua New Guinea ("Ramu"). Table
2 below provides a comparison of pressure leaching parameters for
the treatment of Baptiste concentrate (based on the testwork
described in the Company's January 7,
2020, news release) and laterite ore at Ramu (which has been
in operation since 2012).
Table 2 – Pressure Leaching Autoclave Parameters for Baptiste
Concentrate and Ramu Nickel Cobalt Operation
Autoclave
Parameter
|
Baptiste
Concentrate
(Conceptual Based on
Testwork)
|
Ramu Nickel Cobalt
Operation
(Note
1)
|
Feedstock
type
|
Flotation
concentrate
|
Whole ore
|
Feedstock
grade
|
60-65% Ni
|
1.09% Ni
|
Pressure
|
750 kPa
|
4,300 kPa
|
Temperature
|
150°C
|
250°C
|
Target extraction rate
(recovery)
|
>98%
|
>95%
|
Target residence
time
|
60 minutes
|
60 minutes
|
Note 1 – Source: Design parameters for Ramu Nickel Cobalt
Project in Cobalt 27 Capital Corp., NI 43-101 Technical Report
(July 19, 2019)
Furthermore, it is expected that a pressure leaching circuit
treating Baptiste's flotation concentrate would have much lower
feed variability than a typical HPAL plant accepting run-of-mine
ore, with the associated more variable nickel grades and
mineralization sourced from typical laterite deposits, which can
range from 0.7% to 1.7% nickel content (more than 100% feed grade
variance to pressure leaching).
Scoping Study
FPX has initiated an internal scoping study to further evaluate
a hydrometallurgical refinery to upgrade the high-grade Baptiste
nickel concentrate to a product that is readily usable within the
EV battery material supply chain. Upstream of EV battery
manufacturers are chemical plants producing P-CAM (precursor
cathode active material) and CAM (cathode active material) for
insertion into the battery cathode cells. These chemical
plants require nickel feedstock (typically in the form of nickel
sulphate) to produce P-CAM and CAM.
The FPX scoping study (which is expected to be completed in the
second quarter of 2022) will evaluate options for producing nickel
sulphate in either crystal form (Option 1) or solution form (Option
2), including an assessment of the various technical, economic and
strategic considerations of each alternative. Figure 2 below
provides a conceptual product flow diagram for each Option's
integration into the EV battery supply chain.
Option 1 entails the production of nickel sulphate crystals at a
hydrometallurgical refinery to be located either in British Columbia or at another off-site
location further afield. The primary advantage of producing
nickel sulphate in crystal form (versus Option 2's solution form)
is the greater flexibility for transporting the product over
significant distance (via truck, rail, or ocean freight) to the
chemical plants producing P-CAM and CAM.
Option 2 is based on the transport of Baptiste concentrate to a
hydrometallurgical refinery jointly-located with P-CAM and CAM
facilities. In this scenario, the hydromet refinery would
produce a nickel sulphate solution, which would then be directly
fed to an adjacent chemical plant producing P-CAM and CAM.
These two Options are expected to generate high-value
alternatives for the utilization of Baptiste concentrate in the EV
battery supply chain, both in North
America and abroad. Figure 3 shows the potential for
logistical integration of Baptiste concentrate into the North
American EV supply chain, with multiple transport modes and routes
to integrate with the growing number of large-scale battery plants
currently in development or operation.
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. 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
biggest known surface footprint, has been the focus of diamond
drilling since 2010, with a total of 82 holes and over 34,000 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. The Van
target was not drill-tested at that time as bedrock exposures in
the area were very poor prior to more recent logging
activity. In 2021, the Company executed a maiden drilling
program at Van, which has returned promising results comparable
with the strongest results at Baptiste.
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. For more information, please view
the Company's website at www.fpxnickel.com.
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.