Canada Nickel begins federal permitting process for Crawford project

Canada Nickel Company (TSXV: CNC; OTC: CNIKF) has commenced the federal impact assessment permitting process for its Crawford nickel project, following acceptance by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada of the company's initial project description (IPD). The agency has determined the IPD conforms to the regulations and it has been posted online for an official 180-day comment period.

Following submission of the draft in May, Canada Nickel initiated an extensive round of engagement on the IPD, hosting more than 20 meetings with indigenous communities, project stakeholders and the general public to present key content from the IPD and enable follow up.

"We would like to thank all who have taken the time to provide feedback, and to reiterate the significant role each individual can play in the careful and informed design, development, and operation of the Crawford nickel project," Mark Selby, chairman and CEO of Canada Nickel, commented.

"The relationships we have built since the earliest days of the project have been crucial in facilitating these conversations, and by continuing to collect, reflect upon, and integrate the comments, concerns, questions, and suggestions we receive, Canada Nickel hopes to build a project that maximizes benefits to all communities in the region."

With the IPD now publicly available online, the agency will conduct its own series of engagement activities, which will be used to develop a summary of issues relating to the project, to then be provided to the company. Subsequent to this and over the coming months, Canada Nickel will complete a response to the summary of issues and a detailed project description, both of which will be submitted to the agency for further review.

Canada Nickel's flagship Crawford project in northern Ontario is said to contain the fifth-largest nickel sulphide resource globally. A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) based on prior resource estimates outlined a 25-year operation that would produce 842,000 tonnes of nickel, plus iron and chrome by-products of 21 million and 1.5 million tonnes respectively.

Additional information on Canada Nickel's Crawford project is posted on www.canadanickel.com.