BRITISH COLUMBIA – Fort St. James Nickel Corp. of Vancouver is developing a model for a nickel mine at the Kilometre 26 property in the Opemica District. The company says the model is being created with the same economies of scale currently used at several bulk tonnage, low grade copper porphyry deposits in the province. The flotation circuit in the mill which would float nickel sulphides instead of copper sulphides and possibly additionally include a magnetic recovery unit.
The company believes that a key factor in making the Kilometer 26 project concept feasible is the virtual absence of non-nickel bearing sulphides that would dilute the resulting sulphide concentrate. At a 30,000-t/d capacity a bulk tonnage nickel sulphide mine recovering 0.14% Ni (in sulphide) would produce 31 million lb of nickel (in concentrate) annually.
The Kilometre 26 deposit hosts a naturally occurring nickel-iron alloy (awaruite) as well as nickel sulphide (pentlandite). Recent drilling has confirmed that a magnetic anomaly with dimensions of 7,000 metres by 500 to 750 metres indicative of a serpentinized ultramafic body which is pervasively mineralized.
See also FortStJamesNickel.com.
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