As the push for green energy accelerates, nickel demand is projected to rise due to its intensive use in the lithium-ion batteries used to power electric vehicles. However, new discoveries of nickel sulphide deposits (currently the most reliable source for battery-grade class 1 nickel) have been rare. This is the opportunity Canadian company Fathom Nickel Inc., a resource development and exploration company, is set to utilise. Established in 2015 as a private company by current CEO and VP Exploration Director Ian Fraser and his partner, Brad Van Den Bussche the purpose has always been to look into metals for the green economy, to be used in the manufacturing of batteries needed for energy storage in the high-growth renewable energy and electric vehicle industries.
Albert Lake Project
To this end, the company acquired for shares 10,000 hectares of property within the current Albert Lake Project, host to the historic and previously productive Rottenstone deposit, with a view to exploring its potential.
“I was always fascinated by this property and the Rottenstone deposit, and I just felt that the exploration that was undertaken from 1998 to 2003 and 2008 was somewhat incomplete. When we acquired the property we assayed and re-assayed some historic drill holes and results; as I suspected, this identified some favourable rock types and mineralization,” says Ian Fraser.
A major step forward came in 2021 when Fathom Nickel attracted a Toronto merchant banking firm that was willing to invest in the venture. “The timing was just perfect – it came as Elon Musk had made his comments about the world needing nickel from safe jurisdictions.”
“As a result, we were able to do our original IPO right at the time of this “nickel euphoria”. The effort was to raise $3 to $5 million. We ended up closing at just over $11 million. That enabled us to go out to the property and start exploring it as it had never been explored before.”
Soon after, Fathom Nickel acquired the rights to an additional 80,000 hectares, an unexplored area within the Albert Lake property, and completed airborne geophysical surveying. Fraser, who is very passionate about the project, explains that the property boasts some of the highest-grade nickel and platinum group elements ever mined in Canada.
Exploration activity dates back to 1929, and the highlight of the property is the historic Rottenstone Mine, which was an open-pit mining operation that was in service from 1965 to 1969. The mineralization of the Rottenstone deposit is unique and contains several notable associated metals.
Gochager Lake Project
Fathom Nickel’s activities have not stopped with the expansion of the Albert Lake asset. In January 2023, the company received an exploration permit for its second project, Gochager Lake, a 5,000-hectare area, located some 60 km from Albert Lake, that is host to a historic open-pitable nickel and copper resource[1].
The plan is to commence the Q1-2023 exploration programme immediately. For the first time in the history of the project, the company will employ borehole electromagnetic (“BHEM”) surveys.
“The Gochager Lake Project is an important addition to the Company’s portfolio of “battery metal” projects. We look forward to applying BHEM in our effort to delineate zones of semi-massive to massive sulphide nickel-copper-cobalt mineralization within the broader disseminated sulphide mineralization that defines the historic Gochager Lake deposit.”
Ian Fraser, an experienced geologist with over 35 years experience of in mineral exploration, managing and implementing exploration projects in Canada and internationally, points out that the support of local people is a great help for progressing these activities.
“I have a long history of exploring the province of Saskatchewan, have been involved in several gold projects, and have established fantastic relationships with the people there. We have been very fortunate to have indigenous people consistently coming back to work with us on our projects, and winning support from the local community has been an added benefit. Together, we have achieved some very positive things over the last two years.”
Shining prospects
He points out that the province of Saskatchewan is now one of the better jurisdictions in the world to explore, more recently with a focus on base metals. “When we acquired this property in 2015, our goal was to prove that the Rottenstone deposit was not stand-alone, but that it is part of a significant magmatic nickel system. And I believe that we have proven just that.”
Both projects have the potential to host significant deposits containing nickel, copper, cobalt and the platinum group elements – all of these are essential ingredients for the green economy.
Ian Fraser affirms that the company is well funded to move on with its Q1 2023 drilling programme, starting at the Gochager Lake project. Using a BHEM platform, testing will be done for the continuation and orientation of nickel-copper-cobalt lenses. In addition, and for the first time in the property’s history, the drill hole will be systematically sampled for cobalt.
Once the initial drilling is completed at Gochager, the entire crew will be moved up to the Albert Lake project, to assume drilling up until the end of March. “Pending actual timing for the receipt of assays from our lab, we anticipate releasing the results early in April,” he says. “I’m very optimistic that we will have positive results to speak about come April. Then we will need to raise another tranche of money so we can resume exploration and hopefully more drilling.”
Summarising the last two busy years, he says: “We have accomplished a lot, just coming up on our second anniversary of being public, despite hurdles such as the pandemic and the related consequences. We’re a small company. But I think we’re well on our way to demonstrating that we are potentially defining something of significance.”
The developments of the last two years clearly indicate that Fathom Nickel is firmly set to continue towards its vision: with a highly experienced team and two strategic assets that fit the corporate mandate, to become a leader in the Canadian nickel exploration industry.
[1] The Saskatchewan Mineral Deposit Index (SMID#0880) reports drill indicated reserves of 4,262,400 tons grading 0.295% Ni and 0.081% Cu mineable by open pit. Fathom cannot confirm this resource estimate nor the parameters and methods used to prepare the reserve estimate. The estimate is not NI43-101 compliant and further work is required to verify this historical drill indicated reserve.
