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Hard Creek Nickel Corporation: Updated Preliminary Economic Assessment Models Production of Saleable Concentrate
  2.18 billion lb. of nickel and 123 million lb. of cobalt recovered to high quality 18%...
About this update from Giga Metals Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":"\nHard Creek Nickel Corporation: Updated Preliminary Economic Assessment Models Production of Saleable Concentrate\n\n \n2.18 billion lb. of nickel and 123 million lb. of cobalt recovered to high quality 18% nickel concentrate\n16.0% pretax IRR, 13.6% after tax IRR at $8.50/lb. nickel\nAt 8% discount rate, US $1,292 million pretax NPV, US $725 million after tax NPVHard Creek Nickel Corporation (TSX: HNC) is pleased to release the results of a new Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) of its wholly owned Turnagain Nickel Project in Northwestern British Columbia. In a fundamental shift from the previous PEA released in 2010, the project will now produce nickel concentrate for sale rather than building a complex on-site refinery. \nThe study, authored by AMC Mining Consultants (Canada) Ltd., recommends the project be built as an open pit mine and mill processing 43,200 tonnes per day (tpd) for the first five years producing 52.72 million pounds (23,912 tonnes) of nickel and 2.82 million pounds (1,280 tonnes) of cobalt in concentrate annually. This is followed by an expansion to 86,000 tpd for the next sixteen years producing 97.87 million pounds (44,394 tonnes) of nickel and 5.36 million pounds (2,433 tonnes) of cobalt in concentrate annually. \nA focused metallurgical program, initiated in 2010, dramatically improved the metallurgy of the project resulting in the ability to produce a saleable 18% nickel concentrate using a simple flow sheet and readily available reagents. This allows the project to move forward without the higher technical risk and larger capital previously required for the construction of a refinery at site. The recent approval of the construction of the Northwest BC power transmission line from Terrace to Bob Quinn has facilitated the supply of reliable and competitively priced electrical power for the Turnagain Project. \n“Our updated study represents a major milestone for the Turnagain Project,” said Mark Jarvis, CEO of Hard Creek Nickel. “We now have a long life project that is able to produce a very desirable, clean concentrate product that the world’s nickel smelters need. This will be an open pit mine using SAG mills, ball mills and standard flotation tanks, so technical risk has been reduced dramatically. Coupled with that is a reduction in initial capital required, from $...