VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 19,
2023 /CNW/ - FPX Nickel Corp. (TSX-V: FPX) (OTCQB:
FPOCF) ("FPX" or the "Company") announces that
further to its news release dated September
6, 2023, it has filed the associated National Instrument
43-101 Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI
43-101") technical report (the "Report") for the
Preliminary Feasibility Study ("PFS") for the Baptiste
Nickel Project ("Baptiste" or the "Project") at its
wholly-owned Decar Nickel District in central British
Columbia. The report is dated October
18, 2023 and can be found under the Company's SEDAR+ profile
at www.sedarplus.ca.
The PFS outlines an open-pit mining project which will produce
an average of 59,100 tonnes of nickel per year in concentrate over
a 29-year mine life. The project will be developed in a
phased approach, with an initial mill throughput rate of 108,000
tonnes per day (Phase 1), followed by an expansion to 162,000
tonnes per day (Phase 2) funded from free cash flow after the
initial after-tax payback period of 3.7 years.
Base Case economics are presented in Table 1, based on a
$8.75/lb nickel price.
Table 1 – Base Case
Economics
Criteria
|
Units
|
Base
Case
|
Initial Capital
Cost
|
USD,
millions
|
2,182
|
Operating
Cost
|
$/t milled
|
8.15
|
C1 Operating
Cost1
|
USD /lb Ni
|
3.70
|
All-in Sustaining Cost
("AISC")2
|
USD /lb Ni
|
4.17
|
After- Tax
|
NPV8%
|
USD,
millions
|
2,010
|
IRR
|
%
|
18.6
|
Payback
Period
|
years
|
3.7
|
Mine
Life-to-Payback
|
ratio
|
7.8
|
NPV-to-Initial
Capex
|
ratio
|
0.92
|
Annual Free Cash Flow,
Pre-Tax3
|
USD,
millions
|
578
|
Notes:
- Exclusive of any byproduct credits.
- Inclusive of operating cost, sustaining capital, expansion
capital, closure capital, and royalties.
- For production years.
The Baptiste PFS included contribution from the parties listed
in Table 2 ("PFS Contributors"), each of whom is a qualified
person under NI 43-101.
Table 2 – PFS
Contributors
PFS
Contributor
|
Qualified
Person
|
Scope of
Responsibility
|
Ausenco Engineering
Canada Inc.
|
Kevin Murray,
P.Eng.
|
Recovery methods,
process plant, on-site infrastructure, capital cost estimate,
operating cost estimate, financial model, opportunities, next
steps, and refinery option
|
Carisbrooke Consulting
Inc.
|
David Baldwin,
P.Eng.
|
Off-site
power
|
Equity Exploration
Consultants Ltd.
|
Ron Voordouw,
P.Geo.
|
Geology
|
ERM Consultants Canada
Ltd.
|
Rolf Schmitt,
P.Geo.
|
Environmental,
Permitting
|
International
Metallurgical & Environmental Inc.
|
Jeff Austin,
P.Eng.
|
Metallurgy
|
Knight
Piésold Ltd.
|
Duke Reimer,
P.Eng.
|
Tailings, water
management, & geotechnical
|
Next Mine Consulting
Ltd.
|
Richard Flynn,
P.Geo.
|
Mineral resource
estimate
|
Onsite Engineering
Ltd.
|
Paul Mysak,
P.Eng.
|
Off-site roads and
bridges
|
TechSer Mining
Consultants Ltd.
|
Cristian Garcia,
P.Eng.
|
Mine design &
mineral reserve estimate
|
Andrew Osterloh, P.Eng., Senior
Vice President, Projects and Operations for FPX, is a qualified
person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Osterloh has reviewed and
approved the technical content of this news release.
About the Decar Nickel
District
The Company's Decar Nickel District represents a large-scale
greenfield discovery of nickel mineralization in the form of a
naturally occurring nickel-iron alloy called awaruite (Ni3Fe)
hosted in an ultramafic/ophiolite complex. FPX's mineral
claims cover an area of 245 km2 west of the Middle River
and north of Trembleur Lake, in central British Columbia.
Awaruite mineralization has been identified in several target areas
within the ophiolite complex including the Baptiste Deposit and the
Van Target, as confirmed by drilling, petrographic examination,
electron probe analyses and outcrop sampling. Since 2010,
approximately US $30 million has been
spent on the exploration and development of Decar.
Of the four targets in the Decar Nickel District, the Baptiste
Deposit has been the focus of increasing resource definition (a
total of 99 holes and 33,700 m of
drilling completed), as well as environmental and engineering
studies to evaluate its potential as a bulk-tonnage open pit mining
project. The Baptiste Deposit is located within the Baptiste
Creek watershed, on the traditional and unceded territories of
Tl'azt'en Nation and Binche Whut'en, and within several Tl'azt'enne
and Binche Whut'enne keyohs.
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.