Nuinsco Climbs on High-Grade Nickel Concentrate

Metallurgical test results from Nuinsco Resources’ (NWI-T, NUIRF-O) wholly owned Minago deposit are in, and the news is good.

The Toronto-based company recently announced concentrate results of 27% nickel with a 57% recovery. The company, which saw its shares climb nearly 17% to 38 on trading volume of 695,000 shares on the news, says a full scoping study will be finished in November.

In a release, Nuinsco president Brian Robertson said that to his knowledge, the concentrate was “one of the highest-grade nickel concentrates in the world.”

Nuinsco says the high grade is due to the presence of millerite, which contains 64.7% nickel, as well as the low sulphide content of the mineralization.

In addition to nickel, the concentrate contains 1.3% copper, 8.77 grams palladium per tonne, 3.67 grams platinum, 0.35 gram gold, 6 grams silver and 0.38% cobalt. Magnesium oxide content was 9.5%.

The company says Minago’s sulphide nickel could potentially be mined as an open pit. The project, one of Canada’s largest undeveloped nickel deposits, is located in Manitoba’s Thompson nickel belt.

The project hosts 30 million tonnes grading 0.64% nickel in the measured and indicated category for 423 million lbs. It hosts another 27 million tonnes of inferred resources at 0.67% nickel for 399 million lbs. nickel. Resources were estimated using a 0.4% nickel cutoff grade.

The news comes in the midst of plans to restructure Nuinsco’s assets; the company plans to spin off its nickel projects — Lac Rocher, Mel and Minago — into a separate nickel pure-play.

Shareholders will be able to get new shares of Nuinsco and the new nickel company in exchange for old Nuinsco shares on the record date of the arrangement, once the plans go through.

Nuinsco will continue to hold its non-nickel properties in Canada and Turkey, and will retain roughly a 25% equity interest in the new company.