Posted on 09 Dec 2024
Australian miner Blackstone Minerals has extended an option-to-purchase agreement with CaNickel to 3 January 2025 as it finalises Wabowden nickel project evaluations, Kallanish Power Materials reports.
The agreement gives Blackstone the exclusive right to acquire the Wabowden nickel project located southwest of Thompson, Manitoba, Canada.
“Blackstone is making good progress in identifying a strategic partner to jointly acquire the Wabowden Project as well as optimising a development strategy for the assets,” states Blackstone Minerals’ managing director, Scott Williamson. “This extension allows the company time to finalise these key activities and studies. We would like to thank CaNickel for their patience and willingness to work with Blackstone as we look forward to advancing the exciting Wabowden.”
The area within the Thompson Nickel Belt covers 300 kilometres of strike and has produced more than 2.5 million tonnes of nickel. It is made up of five deposits (Bucko, Bowden, M11A, Apex and Halfway Lake) and has a combined total resource base of 230m t at 0.56% nickel. Bucko is considered the most advanced and the highest-grade deposit at Wabowden.
“We are grateful to Blackstone for endeavouring in good faith to complete the proposed purchase of the Bucko Lake Mine over the past year and will continue working closely with them to facilitate a transaction in the near future,” states CaNickel’s chief executive Shirley Anthony. “Despite challenges in the nickel market over the last 16 months, the fact remains that the Bucko Lake Mine represents one of the highest-grade and most advanced nickel sulphide projects in North America at a time when critical minerals are playing an increasingly pivotal role in the global transition towards green energy.”
Blackstone Minerals is focused on building an integrated battery metals processing business in Vietnam to produce the “lowest-emission” nickel-cobalt-manganese precursor products for the growing global lithium-ion battery industry.
Source:Kallanish Power Materials
