Smelter-Free Nickel from Awuraite Ore: Nickel is in High Demand and Discoveries in Newfoundland, Canada Are Significant: First Atlantic Nickel Intends to Mine

     Nickel is a critical mineral in high demand. It is used as a stainless-steel alloy, giving the steel its stainlessness. It is also used as an aerospace alloy and in lithium-ion batteries. In fact, in many lithium-ion batteries, there is ten times more nickel than lithium. The U.S. mines less than 1% of the nickel it uses, and most North American nickel still requires Chinese smelting. More than two-thirds of all nickel is refined in China, with 80% of all nickel sulfide going through the country. China is also involved in nickel mining in other places, such as Indonesia. Nickel demand is expected to grow more than any other mineral in the next 15 years. In 2019, the U.S. consumed 230,000 tons of nickel but produced only 14,000 tons of it, just 6% of consumption. The U.S. does not have a nickel refining plant. That means that the nickel required for stainless steel production in the U.S. is dependent on China.

     The current Trump trade war could lead to China withholding processed nickel, as it has restricted exports of other critical minerals. Canada, however, does have significant nickel reserves, and one kind of nickel ore, the nickel-iron alloy Awuraite (Ni3Fe, Ni2Fe), is sought after because it does not require smelting. Most nickel ore is in the form of pentlandite, a nickel sulfide, and nickel laterite. Biden’s IRA set aside $3 billion to build refining capacity for nickel and other critical minerals. Currently, China dominates mineral refining. This is due in large part to its lax environmental laws and state-sponsored support. While Indonesia now has 50% of the world’s nickel mining, it is Chinese investment that runs it, controlling 84% of that market.

     First Atlantic Nickel’s deposits in Newfoundland, Canada, were initially explored with aeromagnetic surveys. The geology consists of the Pipestone Ophiolite Complex, a 30 km highly magnetic ultramafic ophiolite belt enriched in nickel, chromium, and cobalt. The company continues to utilize drones to map the ophiolite with LiDAR, multispectral, hyperspectral, magnetometer, and ground-penetrating radar, in order to identify high-grade areas for drill testing. 

     In March 2025, the company released the results of its Phase 1 drilling program:

·        High-Grade Magnetic Concentrate: An average magnetic concentrate grade of 1.37% nickel and 1.73% chromium across 383.1 meters of drill core, analyzed through 133 samples spanning the entire interval, with peak concentrate grades reaching 2.33% nickel and 8.17% chromium.

·        Mass Pull: An average of 9.5% over 383.1 meters, yielding a magnetic concentrate that captures the recovered nickel, chromium, and cobalt within 9.5% of the original mass, reducing the total mass by 90.5% and producing an optimal concentrate for further processing.

·        Strong Recovery Rates: Calculated recoveries of magnetically recoverable nickel averaging 52.4% (up to 63%) across the entire drill hole length.

·        DTR Nickel: Average DTR nickel grade of 0.13% (up to 0.16%) over 383.1 meters.

·        Chromium and Cobalt: Both chromium and cobalt were recovered in the magnetic concentrate, with significant chromium values meriting further evaluation, adding potential for valuable by-products.

Phase 2 drilling began in May 2025, utilizing a more powerful drill coring rig:

“Phase 2 - District Exploration: The Phase 2 program also includes regional prospecting across the Company’s 30-kilometer-long ultramafic ophiolite complex, targeting additional awaruite outcrops to identify new high-priority drill targets within the 30 km nickel trend.”

“Increased Drilling Capabilities: New road access and the deployment of a more powerful drill rig equipped for HQ/NQ core sizes will significantly enhance drilling speed, depth capacity, and cost efficiency, enabling deeper and faster exploration across priority targets.”

     Awuraite is easier to process and has much lower environmental impacts than nickel sulfide ore processing, as detailed by the company below.

“Awaruite's unique properties enable cleaner and safer processing compared to conventional sulfide and laterite nickel sources, which often involve smelting, roasting, or high-pressure acid leaching that can release toxic sulfur dioxide, generate hazardous waste, and lead to acid mine drainage. Awaruite's simpler processing, facilitated by its amenability to magnetic processing and lack of sulfur, eliminates these harmful methods, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and risks associated with toxic chemical release, addressing concerns about the large carbon footprint and toxic emissions linked to nickel refining.”

 

 

 

References:

 

Why Nickel Shortages Have Elon Musk, Tesla, and the U.S. Department of Defense Alarmed. The Tomorrow Investor. March 13, 2025.  First Atlantic Nickel - Why Nickel Shortages Have Elon & the U.S. Department of Defense Alarmed

First Atlantic Nickel: Factsheet. FirstAtlantic_Brochure_WEB

Smelter-Free Nickel for a Resilient Critical Minerals Supply Chain. First Atlantic Nickel. Investor Presentation. PowerPoint Presentation

First Atlantic Nickel Starts Phase 2 Drilling to Expand New Nickel Discovery at RPM Zone in District-Scale Atlantic Nickel Project. First Atlantic Nickel. Press Release. May 7, 2025. First Atlantic Nickel Starts Phase 2 Drilling to Expand New

Awuraite: Wikipedia. Awaruite - Wikipedia

FIRST ATLANTIC NICKEL RELEASES INITIAL DTR METALLURGICAL RESULTS: MAGNETIC CONCENTRATE OF 1.37% NICKEL & 1.73% CHROMIUM OVER 383.1 METRES. First Atlantic Nickel. Press Release. March 13, 2025. FIRST ATLANTIC NICKEL RELEASES INITIAL DTR METALLURGICAL RESULTS: MAGNETIC CONCENTRATE OF 1.37% NICKEL & 1.73% CHROMIUM OVER 383.1 METRES

Nickel. U.S. Geological Survey. 2020. Nickel Data Sheet - Mineral Commodity Summaries 2020