RNC Minerals is poised to begin building in 2019 to develop one of the largest undeveloped reserves of cobalt and nickel in the world.
“The Dumont Nickel-Cobalt Project, one of the world’s premier battery metals projects, contains the world’s largest undeveloped reserves of both cobalt and nickel,” said Mark Selby, President and CEO of RNC Minerals. “It also contains the second-largest nickel reserve and the eighth-largest cobalt reserve of any deposit in the world.”
With many market participants expecting explosive growth in nickel and cobalt demand from the electric vehicle market over the coming decade, RNC continues to be approached by a number of potential strategic investors, offtake partners and financiers who could provide the financing required to begin construction.
“Dumont is the only deposit of this scale that is not currently in operation and not owned by a major mining company (the other eight largest deposits are owned by companies that include Glencore, Vale, Norilsk, Sumitomo Corp, and Jinchuan),” said Selby. “Given market concern regarding future cobalt and nickel supply for electric vehicles, and nickel prices at the $12,000-$13,000/t ($5.50–$6/lb) level, RNC believes it is well-positioned to significantly advance Dumont in 2018.”
Selby believes Dumont compares favourably with many Australian nickel-cobalt projects, which have seen significant increases in market value during 2017.
“Dumont contains larger nickel and cobalt reserves,” he said, “has completed a feasibility study, is fully permitted, and is a sulphide deposit rather than a laterite deposit, which allows the recovery of nickel and cobalt using proven, conventional milling technology rather than the more technically challenging pressure acid leach (PAL/HPAL) technology.”
As is typical with any mining project, any final construction decision in 2019 would be subject to financing and market conditions at that time.
(RNC Minerals)
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