Crawford Nickel Project
Virtual Open House
Virtual Open House
Welcome to the Virtual Open House for the Crawford Nickel Project!
Note: The virtual open house materials will perform best on a computer or tablet due to the large amount of visual and interactive material that we want to share with you.
The Virtual Open House presents the following information:
Please provide your feedback and comments using these tools:
Canada Nickel will be holding an open-to-all, in-person consultation meeting (called a Public Information Centre or PIC) targeted for spring 2024, to present the alternative means of carrying out the Project and the results of the Impact Statement, including the results of the various technical studies being completed to assess potential effects. Canada Nickel will also include a summary of comments and concerns provided throughout the Project and how they have been addressed and/or incorporated into the design of the Project.
Participants of the Virtual Open House are invited to join Canada Nickel’s team for the upcoming Public Information Centre. Details about this upcoming future consultation opportunity will be shared with the public and all interested parties in the coming months.
Canada Nickel is a Canadian junior exploration company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with exploration properties located in Northeastern Ontario.
Canada Nickel is proposing to develop, construct, operate, and progressively reclaim a new open pit nickel mine and processing facility, collectively known as the Crawford Nickel Project (the Project). The Project is located 42 km north of Timmins, Ontario (refer to Figure below); one of the largest cities in Northern Ontario and one strongly linked to the mining industry.
This new mine is proposed to extract and process critical minerals necessary to meet Canada and Ontario’s ambitious critical minerals strategies.
The Project is currently undertaking a Federal Impact Assessment (IA), which will be administered by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) under the Impact Assessment Act . Certain components of the Project are also subject to Class Environmental Assessments (Class EA) through various Provincial agencies. Environmental permits and approvals will also be required in the future.
The Federal IA process involves 5 Phases:
Canada Nickel initiated Phase 1 in July 2022, to engage with Indigenous communities, government agencies, interested stakeholders, and the public. This Phase concluded with the issuance of the TIS Guidelines by IAAC in March 2023. The TIS Guidelines outline the factors to be considered in the IA.
The Project is currently in Phase 2. Canada Nickel is preparing an Impact Statement that will identify and describe the Project and existing environmental conditions. This will lead to the assessment of the Project's potential effects and identification of mitigation measures and associated monitoring programs. Additional information on project alternatives, effects of potential accidents and malfunctions, effects of the environment on the Project, effects on Canada’s ability to meet its environmental obligations and climate change commitments, and the extent to which the Project will contribute to sustainability will also be included. To learn more about the approach to undertaking the Alternatives Assessment and Cumulative Effects Assessment, please click here . As mentioned above, public consultations on the Project’s potential effects and associated mitigation measures will be held during the open-to-all Public Information Centre (PIC), planned for spring 2024.
Once prepared and submitted to IAAC, the IAAC will review the submitted Impact Statement and will engage with federal authorities, jurisdictions, Indigenous communities, and other participants (including the public) to identify any deficiencies in the information provided, which Canada Nickel will address, before proceeding to Phase 3 for recommendations by IAAC and an ultimate decision by the Minister.
In addition to the Impact Assessment, four Class EAs have been identified for the Project pursuant to the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act. Requirements of each Class EA will be confirmed as the Project continues to advance. Class EAs will be initiated through the issuance of a notice of commencement and will be focused on specific Project components, not the Project as a whole. Opportunities for consultation and engagement as part of each Class EA process will be available and coordinated by Canada Nickel in conjunction with preparation of the Impact Statement, as appropriate.
Name of Class EA | Ministry | Purpose / Project Component |
---|---|---|
Class EA for Provincial Transportation Facilities – Group B | Ministry of Transportation | • Realignment of the existing Highway 655 • Intersection and/or underpass beneath Highway 655 |
Class EA for Minor Transmission Facilities – Screening | Ministry of Energy | • Transformer station(s) • New transmission line internal to the site if between 2 - 4 km & under 500 kV |
Class EA for MNR Resource Stewardship and Facility Development Projects – Category B* | Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry | • Infrastructure located on Crown land • Development of on-line tailing management facility (if required) • Water crossings / culverts / tree removals • Beaver dam / furbearing mammal den, and raptor nest removal |
Class EA for Activities of the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines under the Mining Act – Category B* | Ministry of Mines | • Surface rights within Crown land reservations from waterbodies (as applicable) (e.g., typically, where a mining claim includes or borders on water, a 120m surface rights reservation is applied to the high-water mark of the waterbody) |
*Class EA category to be confirmed with applicable Provincial agency
The Project is a proposed open pit mine that generally follows the following mine process:
The interactive map provides a general layout of the various Project components.
The Project can be split into four Phases. A preliminary timeline for each of the Phases is provided but note that the commencement of Project activities is dependent on several factors, including timelines for Impact Assessment approval, Class EA approvals, and receipt of all applicable permits and approvals:
The three sub-phases of the Operations Phase are further described below:
Operations Phase 1 – Mining operations during this phase will produce more ore than the process plant can process, with surplus lower value material to be stockpiled in the East Stockpile location for future processing. The process plant will operate at a capacity of approximately 60,000 tons per day (tpd) (or 21.9 million tonnes per annum (Mt/a)). Construction will continue during this phase to expand the process plant (second phase of the process plant’s operation) and other supporting mine infrastructure, including the finalization of Highway 655 realignment.
Operations Phase 2 – Mining operations during this phase will produce approximately 240,000 tpd, which is double of what the process plant can process. The process plant will operate at a capacity of approximately 120,000 tpd (or 43.8 Mt/a). Lower value ore will continue to be stockpiled in the East and/or the West Ore Stockpiles.
Operations Phase 3 – Mining operations will cease (e.g., no further extraction of ore from the pits). The process plant will continue to operate at approximately 120,000 tpd (or 43.8 Mt/a) and will process ore stockpiled during Operations Phase 1 and 2. As mine operations cease, there will be an opportunity for progressive reclamation of the pits, haul routes, and other areas of the Project site, such as the Impoundment Facility.
The primary purpose of the Project is to responsibly and sustainably extract and process critical minerals, including nickel, iron, chromium, cobalt, palladium and platinum, contributing to the global supply of critical metals used in the production of various essential industrial and consumer goods.
A Feasibility Study has been prepared that confirms the technical feasibility and economic viability to develop the Project for the purpose of extraction, processing, and sale. No issues have been identified to date that are expected to materially affect the ability of Canada Nickel to extract minerals from the Project.
Both the federal and provincial governments have highlighted the growing demand and importance of critical minerals:
The Project will supply critical minerals, including nickel, cobalt, chromium, palladium and platinum. The chromium contained in this concentrate would make Canada Nickel the sole miner of chromium in North America. By developing domestic sources of nickel, the Project could reduce Canada’s dependency on foreign suppliers, enhance supply chain resilience, and contribute to national and regional economic stability.
The nickel concentrate that would be produced by the Project is expected to be sold into the North American battery production chain and the magnetite concentrate is expected to be sold to a steel melt shop as a primary feed for steel production in North America.
Growth Plan for Northern Ontario , 2011 identifies the minerals sector and mining supply and services as an existing and emerging priority economic sector for which Northern Ontario has a distinct competitive advantage. Specifically, the Project contributes to the following Growth Plan objectives:
Assessing the environmental impacts of a project follows a standard methodology; however, the scope of the assessment is influenced by existing environmental conditions, potential project effects, and information received from participating agencies, Indigenous peoples, stakeholders, and the public. The figure below outlines the general methodology to be followed for the Impact Statement.
The following section outlines the methodology and selection of VCs. Additional information on alternatives assessment, cumulative effects, and spatial and temporal boundaries can be found in the Additional Resources section
Valued Components (VCs) are elements of the natural and human environment identified as having scientific, social, cultural, economic, historical, archaeological or aesthetic importance. VCs are also tools used to measure the potential effects of a project on the environment. The ‘environment’ includes not only ecological systems, but also human, or social, cultural and economic conditions.
For each VC, the assessment methodology is structured to:
Any key issues raised by Indigenous Peoples, agencies, stakeholders, or the public will be considered during the assessment to inform the determination of potential effects, identification of mitigation measures, determination of significance, and follow-up programs.
Based on initial Indigenous, agency, stakeholder, and public feedback provided during Phase 1 of the IAA process, and based on the requirements of the TIS Guidelines, the following VCs will be assessed as part of the Impact Statement:
Canada Nickel began baseline environmental studies in 2021 to support the Impact Assessment, Provincial Class EAs, and future environmental approvals / applications. Efforts have included a review of available background information, completing various seasonal site investigations, and consulting with Indigenous communities, agencies, stakeholders, and the public. Additional investigations and background research continue. The goal is to describe, measure, and document existing conditions for each VC where Project components and activities are proposed and where potential direct and/or indirect impacts may be predicted.
The Project comprises approximately 11,425 hectares (ha) (28,230 acres) of forested areas, wetlands, and recently logged areas along Highway 655 approximately 42 km north of the City of Timmins, Ontario. The nearest larger communities include the Town of Cochrane (35 km to northeast), City of Timmins (42 km to south), Town of Smooth Rock Falls (50 km to north), and Town of Iroquois Falls (50 km to east).
The Project is located in an area well-connected by local infrastructure. The Project is bisected by Highway 655 and an existing rail spur line connects Glencore’s existing Kidd Mine west of Highway 655 to the Kidd Metallurgical Site to the southeast of the Project site. Other local infrastructure includes a regional transmission line (500 kV), which parallels Highway 655 and extends from the Hydro One Porcupine Transformer Station located east of Timmins. In addition, a 115 kV transmission line runs north south along the east side of the Project. A hydro-electric generating station, Lower Sturgeon, is located along Mattagami River to the west of the Project site, within the boundaries of Mahaffy Township.
The following provides a snapshot of the information collected to date describing the existing conditions for each VC. A summary of baseline conditions is available in the additional resources section or by clicking here .
For additional details on the following topics, click on the links provided below:
Canada Nickel is committed to early, ongoing, and accessible engagement that is specifically tailored to the interests and expectations of all project stakeholders, communities, and Indigenous Peoples. Canada Nickel intends to manage the Project’s potential social, economic, environmental, cultural, and human rights impacts by responding to community concerns, honestly and transparently, while working to directly optimize its benefits.
Ongoing dialogue is a key to Crawford Nickel developing and constructing the Project in a way that positively contributes to the future successes of its neighboring communities. Our team will maintain, and seek to continuously improve, ongoing information and participation tools and activities aimed at supporting meaningful collaboration throughout the life of the Crawford Project.
Since 2021, we have been engaging with local communities and stakeholders to hear your thoughts on the project. Here is a link to what we have heard so far (please refer to available meeting reports): https://canadanickel.com/sustainability/
Thank you for participating in Canada Nickels Virtual Open House. We look forward to receiving your feedback and comments so that we can consider and incorporate it into Project documentation, as appropriate.
We’d like to hear from you!
Upcoming consultation opportunities: