LONDON, UK: Anglo American has agreed to acquire a 9.9% minority interest in Canada Nickel Company Inc., which owns the Crawford nickel project in Ontario, Canada.

 Anglo American will also provide technology expertise to the Crawford project and has the exclusive right to purchase up to 10% of recoveries of nickel concentrate, iron and chromium contained in the magnetite concentrates and any corresponding carbon credits from the Crawford project.

Anglo American’s equity funding will support Canada Nickel’s work to complete the necessary permitting requirements to proceed with development of the project. 

The investment is part of Anglo American’s approach to expand its nickel product offering with additional battery-grade nickel for use in electric vehicles, complementing nickel production from Anglo American’s PGMs mines in South Africa, as well as ferronickel from its nickel assets in Brazil which is mostly destined for the global stainless-steel industry.

Peter Whitcutt, CEO of Anglo American’s Marketing business, said: “As a responsible provider of future-enabling metals and minerals to our customers, we are committed to supporting our industry in increasing the availability of critical materials that will underpin the success of the energy transition, and to do so sustainably.”

Anglo American will apply its FutureSmart Mining™ technologies to ore samples from Canada Nickel , with the aim of assessing opportunities to improve processing recoveries and reduce the project’s overall energy, emission and water footprint.

“Our in-depth product knowledge and portfolio of innovative technologies have the potential to provide a value-enhancing contribution to the development of the Crawford project, with the objective of unlocking additional supply of nickel to meet the world’s growing demand for battery technology for electric transport”, added Peter Whitcutt.

Located in a tier-one mining jurisdiction in Ontario, Canada, with optimal support infrastructure, the Crawford project is one of the largest undeveloped, bulk tonnage nickel sulphide resources in the world. If brought into production, the project is expected to play an important role in expanding the available supply of battery-grade nickel. 

The completion of the private placement and related offtake and technology agreements is subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange and is targeted to close on or about 28 February 2023.