Andrew Forrest’s Tattarang has struck its third Canadian deal, this time to develop a nickel project in Quebec under a $25.4 million agreement with Orford Mining Corporation.
Andrew Forrest’s Tattarang has struck its third Canadian deal, this time to develop a nickel project in Quebec under a $25.4 million agreement with Orford Mining Corporation.
The deal was executed through Tattarang’s Wyloo Metals, which last year announced multi-million investments in Toronto-listed companies Noront Resources and Queen’s Road Capital.
Wyloo, formerly Squadron Resources, has now agreed to jointly develop Orford's West Raglan nickel asset.
The 663-square-kilometre project sits in the west-central portion of Quebec’s prolific Cape Smith Belt, which has not undergone any systematic and modern-day exploration, Tattarang says.
The belt is also home to Canadian Royalties’ Nunavik mine and Quebec-based Glencore Group’s Raglan operations where historic exploration identified nickel-copper-cobalt-PGE mineralisation.
Wyloo has secured a binding option to acquire up to an 80 per cent stake in Orford’s West Raglan project by spending $C25 million ($A24.5 million) in exploration over a seven-year period.
That includes a $C1.7 million approved work program, to begin mid-year.
Head of Wyloo, Luca Giacovazzi, said the West Raglan project had enormous potential.
“Continuing the discovery of metals like nickel is critical to achieving a low carbon future, which is why we are committed to supporting exploration,” he said.
“To maximise our chances of discovery, we know that we need to be exploring in proven endowed mineral belts.
"This is why we are so excited about West Raglan.
“We’ll be using modern technologies to look deeper and more effectively than others before us, as we search for the next great Canadian nickel discovery.”
Orford chief executive David Christie said West Raglan was one of the few drill-ready nickel sulphide projects in the world that sat in a proven nickel belt.
“Nickel and cobalt markets have seen a resurgence as the electric vehicle battery market continues to grow demand for these metals,” he said.
“We look forward to working with Wyloo Metals towards further discovery of nickel on the West Raglan Project.”
Based in Perth, Wyloo owns several projects in Western Australia including the Ashburton gold and base metals project, the Plumridge nickel project, and the Whalebone and Salt Creek potash projects.
It also holds ground at Broken Hill in NSW, as part of an alliance with Castillo Copper and Impact Minerals (in which Wyloo is a major shareholder).