- Kenbridge is a nickel sulphide project which can be put into production quickly
- Potential to expand the resource downdip, along strike and at Kenbridge North
- Located in mining friendly jurisdiction. New Gold’s Rainy River gold mine currently producing 80km to the south
What Tartisan Nickel does:
Tartisan Nickel Corp (CSE:TN) (OTCMKTS:TTSRF) is in the battery metals business, which is gaining traction as the world looks to reduce carbon emissions and move towards greener transport.
Nickel is one of the metals needed and there are few new high-quality development projects ready to meet its demand. Silver, zinc, copper are also key to the electric vehicle (EV) sector.
Tartisan has a number of projects and investments in the space, its flagship being the Kenbridge nickel deposit near Kenora,Ontario.
A 2020 resource update showed a measured and indicated (M&I) resource of 7.5 million tonnes (Mt) of 0.58% nickel and 0.32% copper for a total of 95 million pounds of contained nickel. In the lower confidence inferred category, it is home to 0.985 Mt at 1% nickel and 0.62% copper, for 22 million pounds of contained nickel.
Mineralization at the deposit is open at depth and along strike and the asset is equipped with a 622 metres (m) deep shaft.
Also in Ontario, the company has the early stage nickel, cobalt copper Turtle Pond project and the Sill Lake silver, lead asset. Elsewhere, in Peru, it owns the Don Pancho zinc, lead, silver project.
Tartisan also holds equity stakes in Eloro Resources Ltd, which is exploring the ISKA ISKA project, a gold, silver, lead, zinc target with a planned 2,500m drilling program currently underway in Bolivia and the La Victoria gold, silver project in Peru.
It is also a shareholder in Class 1 Nickel & Technologies Ltd (CSE:NICO), which is advancing the Alexo-Kelex Dundonald nickel project near Timmins Ontario.
The group also has a stake in Peruvian Metals Corporation (CVE:PER), which is operating a toll mill in Peru and has announced an exploration and bulk sampling program on the high-grade gold, silver, copper Palta Dorada project in the South American country.
How is it doing:
Tartisan has said Kenbridge can be categorized as a "small capex class 1 nickel project," which can be put into production quickly if Nickel prices move to match the demand.
On February 2 this year, the company announced that P&E Mining Consultants would be updating a previously published preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for Kenbridge,
A PEA in 2008 showed the average recovery of nickel over the life of mine was 86% and recovered was 84.6 million pounds. The pre-tax net present value (NPV) was pegged at $253 million and the pre-tax internal rate of return (IRR) was 65%.
An updated mineral resource estimate, which will be incorporated into the PEA, is also expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2021.
The PEA will feature the potential economic viability of Kenbridge and will identify the critical next steps, the company said.
Also in February this year, Tartisan revealed it had boosted its footprint at its Sill Lake lead-silver project with the addition of new claims in the Sault Ste. Marie Mining District of Ontario.
The project now consists of 47 single claims, representing 933.57 hectares, having been around 372 hectares previously.
In 2010, a historical NI 43-101 report for Sill Lake showed a measured and indicated mineral resource of 112,751 tonnes at 134 grams per ton (g/t) silver, 0.62% lead, and 0.21% zinc. In 2020, Tartisan said that SMX International Corp had been hired to update the historical resource, which should be available in the first quarter of 2021.
Inflection points:
- Updated PEA for Kenbridge project
- Updated mineral resource for Sill Lake lead-silver project
- Nickel and other metals price moves
What the boss says:
Speaking to Proactive in early February this year, Tartisan Nickel CEO Mark Appleby explained the rationale behind the company's decision to update the former preliminary economic assessment for Kenbridge.
"We thought it best, given that there's sort of a resurgence in nickel and the demand for nickel with the whole electric vehicle (EV) revolution, that we should bring the PEA (former) current in a 2021 world. So what we're going to be doing, is utilizing today's numbers, whether it’s both on the cost side and the metal price side to see where we fit in."