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(Sharecast News) - Natural resource explorer and developer Corcel announced on Tuesday that it has now, subject to minority investor approval, expanded the focus of the Dempster vanadium project in which it has a 50% interest.
The AIM-traded firm said the project would now include a review of the nickel potential in addition to the existing vanadium targets.
It said the results of a Corcel-commissioned CSA Global review of the project confirmed the potential to pursue nickel targets.
Historically, Corcel said its efforts had focused on vanadium exploration, "largely ignoring" the nickel potential of the tenements.
It said potential could exist for the NiMo horizon as either a stand-alone development or a byproduct for the vanadium-focussed Canol formation.
The broadening of the project was undertaken in light of extended high global nickel prices, and issues around the security of nickel supply and Russian exports, the board explained.
"While an initial focus by previous owners, historically limited work has been done on nickel in the area covered by the Dempster project, and more recently the focus of efforts there have been on the vanadium potential," the board explained in its statement.
"Following the conclusion of a recent external desktop study conducted by consultants CSA Global, and a larger review of the project, the company has formally decided to broaden the focus of the project to include both vanadium and the confirmed NiMo -nickel-molybdenum metal bearing, organic-rich black shales with platinum group metals - horizon that extends across the property.
"Historic drilling at Dempster in 2007 confirmed an extensive NiMo layer throughout the property."
Corcel said the limited drilling conducted did not specifically target areas where the NiMo layer might be expected to thicken, such as structurally-complex zones, fold hinges or dome fringes, instead focusing on a nickel sulphide horizon that outcropped further south at the contact between the Canol and Road River formations.
"Corcel has already identified a fold hinge in the project's north as one such target.
"Application of geophysical techniques and structural analysis should aid further target generation in these areas.
"The historic results from Dempster's NiMo horizon suggest relatively small zones of NiMo horizon thickening may either prove to be independently economic, or could be expected to add by-product credits to any production operations built at the project."
Rich NiMo deposits of small areal extent were known at Minas Ragra in Peru, and at the Huangjiawan mine in China's Guangzhou province, the board said.
"High grade NiMo layers have been reported in other Yukon projects such as Pe, Rich, Deer, El and Nick.
"Nickel has been mined from NiMo horizons within vanadium bearing formations in Songlin, Zunyi, Dayong, Guizhou and Hunan provinces, China.
"More broadly, the Talvivaara mine in Finland, demonstrates an example of a similar head grade nickel deposit hosted in black shales, and offers a method of processing that could be applied locally with relatively low capital expenditure."
The company said it believed the project's expansion was appropriate, due to nickel's increased recognition as a key battery metal "essential" to creating the lithium-ion battery density demanded by buyers of electric vehicles, as well as grid-level energy storage installations.
"This renewed focus on nickel can be seen in recent nickel prices movements as well as an ongoing race to secure nickel supplies by end users such as Tesla.
"This expanded effort fits well with the company's existing battery metals-led strategy and should ultimately make the Dempster project more valuable and more likely to be progressed to an operating mine in the Yukon."
At 1400 BST, shares in Corcel were down 2.04% at 1.2p.
Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.
