Shares in Montreal-based Niocan (NIO-T) jumped 25, or around 42%, to 85 in early afternoon trade in Toronto on June 18, after the Administrative Tribunal of Quebec approved the company’s Oka niobium project, about 40 km northwest of Montreal.
The tribunal’s decision followed a 32-day review of the project after a group of local residents voiced opposition to possible radioactivity and water quality concerns.
The panel’s 156-page review found that the project does not “create a risk of contamination for the sector and its agricultural activities.” The decision also eliminates the need for a monitoring committee for the project required under a previous decision by the Quebec Agricultural Land Protection Commission.
The final hurdle for the project is authorization form the Quebec’s Ministry of the Environment.
Niocan also plans a $1.1-million training program designed to train an estimated workforce of 160 for the project.
A 1999 feasibility study at the Oka project proposed mining 892,000 tonnes from underground annually, from which would be produced 4,500 tonnes of ferro-niobium. Capital costs are pegged at $90 million, with an internal rate of return of 15 to 20%. The study was based on 22,606 metres of drilling in 59 holes in the mid 1990s.
Proven and probable reserves in the main orebody, S-60, are estimated at 10.7 million tonnes grading 0.66% niobium pentoxide (down to 500 metres depth), while reserves in the secondary orebody, HWM-2, are pegged at 1.5 million tonnes of 0.56% niobium pentoxide (to 350 metres depth).
Be the first to comment on "Niocan shares soar on Oka approval"