NICKEL-IRON: Cliffs pulls out of Decar

BRITISH COLUMBIA – Cliffs Natural Resources, 60% owner and operator of the Decar nickel-iron project 80 km north of Fort St. James, has informed partner First Point Minerals Corp. of Vancouver that the project no longer fits its current corporate strategy. Therefore, Cliffs intends to divest itself of its interest in Decar.

Cliffs earned its share by spending $22 million and completing a preliminary economic assessment for the Decar project in March 2013. The American company then then elected to take the project forward and fund the pre-feasibility study that was to be ready by August 2015.

The Decar property contains an unusual kind of nickel mineralization known as awaruite, a naturally occurring nickel-iron alloy. Testing of the material has demonstrated that using conventional processes a concentrate grading 35% to 50% Ni can be made. That compares favourably with typical ferronickel products containing 14% to 40% Ni. Six potential customers tested the concentrate and all indicated that the samples met their technical criteria.

First Point continues to explore the Decar property and is in talks with local First Nations. The company finished environmental baseline studies earlier this year and continues to conduct limited exploration at the site.

The Decar PEA can be read at FirstPointMinerals.com.