Nickel is a most useful base metal. Nickel is a most useful base metal. Because rust never sleeps, some 75% of nickel produced is used to make stainless steel, most being what is known as Class 2 nickel. Class 1 nickel, or pure nickel, is used for making steel alloys, storage batteries for laptops and cell phones and, of increasing importance, electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
Nickel is part of the cathode in a Li-ion battery. It is these Li-ion batteries that are kick-starting a sea change in the nickel market.
Combining all uses, nickel demand grew 9.4% during 2018 and 2019 – outperforming all other major base metals – making it a US$20 billion per year industry. In 2018, Canadian exports of nickel-based products totaled $4.2 billion with Canada ranking fifth in the world for mine production.
Nickel prices are currently trading around US$14,000/tonne, or US$6.42/lb, up more than 30% from March lows and near its highest levels in November 2019.
And while stainless steel and other nickel usages continue to steadily grow as the world’s population increases, it is the EV market that is expected to see a huge growth in nickel demand, according to senior miner Glencore. For the first time, in 2017, sales of EVs passed the 1 million mark; however, this is just the beginning.
According to the International Energy Agency, (IEA), sales of electric cars topped 2.1 million globally in 2019, surpassing 2018 – already a another record year – to boost the stock to 7.2 million electric cars, 47% of which were in China. It’s hard to believe that in 2010, there were only 17,000 EVs on the road. Electric cars, which accounted for 2.6% of global car sales and about 1% of global car stock in 2019, registered a 40% year-on-year increase.
In their recent report, the IEA stated that nine countries had more than 100,000 electric cars on the road. At least 20 countries reached market shares above 1%. However, this growth has sometimes been disrupted by various events and circumstances that negatively affected EV sales.
Deloitte’s outlook shows EV sales reaching 21 million vehicles in 2030 as the cost of manufacturing batteries falls significantly and range anxiety becomes less of a concern. Another challenge for would-be EV buyers is availability of charging stations out of town and, in tow, lacking of charging stations in older apartment buildings.
This huge increase in EV sales will be even more jump-started with the introduction of electric pickup trucks, SUVs, delivery trucks and semi tractor trailers. This could cause a supply crunch for Class 1 nickel.
Interestingly, the IEA noted that electric two/three-wheelers will continue to represent the lion’s share of the total electric vehicle fleet, as this category is most suited to rapid transition to electric drive. The future electric two/three-wheeler fleet is concentrated in China, India and the ten countries of ASEAN.
Wood Mackenzie predicts an increase in nickel demand for EVs from 128 kt in 2019 to 265 kt in 2025 and 1.23 Mt in 2040, increasing nickel battery demand from 4% in 2018 to 31% by 2040.
It has been estimated that by 2025 the world need almost 1 million tonnes per year of new nickel supply. By 2030, 2.5 million tonnes, or double that of today, is required.
Wood Mackenzie is forecasting an average annual nickel deficit of 60,000 tonnes through to 2027 – a situation that bodes well for nickel explorers, developers and producers.
About one-half of the world’s nickel supply is suitable for use in batteries such as the nickel sulphide mines in Sudbury, Voisey’s Bay and Russia.
Those companies involved in discovering and mining nickel deposits are participating in a massive unstoppable global event with the electrification of the world’s vehicles – a good place to be.
Garibaldi Resources Corp. [GGI-TSXV; GGIFF-OTC; RQM-FSE] has been following up its 2017 magmatic nickel massive sulphide discovery in the Golden Triangle region of northwestern British Columbia.
Located on Nickel Mountain, the flagship E&L deposit hosts nickel, copper, cobalt, platinum, palladium gold and silver. The latest drill results from the 2020 program have extended the strike length of the mineralized E&L system from 200 metres to over 650 metres to the east, where the intrusion remains open.
The 100%-owned project is the Golden Triangle’s first magmatic nickel-copper-rich massive sulphide system in the heart of the prolific Eskay Camp. The 2017 discovery drill hole EL-17-14 intersected 8.3% nickel, 4.2% copper, 0.19% cobalt, 1.96 g/t platinum, 4.5 g/t palladium, 1.1 g/t gold and 11.1 g/t silver over 16.75 metres starting 100.4 metres downhole, within a broader 40.4-metre core length highlighted by 3.9% nickel and 2.4% copper.
In February, 2019, Garibaldi confirmed an even shallower new zone (Northeast Zone) with drill hole EL-18-33 that returned 7.7% nickel and 2.95% copper over 4.8 metres within a broader interval of 49 metres grading 1.34% nickel and 0.89% copper (core length) plus cobalt, platinum, palladium, gold and silver credits.
Diamond drilling continues to build out on the persistent widespread nickel-copper mineralization, which includes massive sulphides featuring top-tier nickel-copper grades in addition to palladium, platinum, cobalt, gold, silver and strategic PGE (platinum group element) rare metals, including rhodium.
Hole EL-20-88, collared 350 metres east of pivotal hole EL-19-80, intersected 142.79 metres of mineralized taxitic gabbro and olivine pyroxenite along trend of the E&L system. This large step-out hole exhibited an E&L geochemical signature which expanded the strike length of the E&L gabbroic intrusion to over 650 metres within a 2-km structural corridor that remains untested and open.
Hole El-20-89 has produced the widest mineralized intercept so far from 71.34 metres to 223 metres returning nickel-copper mineralization over 151.6 metres grading 0.56% nickel and 0.61% copper. This intersect included 80.53 metres of 0.88% nickel and 0.85% copper, which expanded the northeastern massive sulphide zone six metres south, the LDZ 15 metres north and the Second Chamber 45 metres west.
Semi-massive veins along the contact edge with sediments assayed 0.33 metres (100.54 to 100.87 m) of 6.87% nickel and 1.69% copper, and 0.15 metres (147.48 to 147.63 m) of 3.04% nickel and 1.62% copper.
Garibaldi has drilled 10 additional holes at the E&L project on Nickel Mountain and is up to hole 94 so far this season. With new geochemical and geophysical targets located at depth, the immediate goal of the drill program is to follow the steeply-plunging E&L gabbro to the east. The conductors detected off hole will be drill tested for mineralization.
Garibaldi owns 100% of more than 200 km2 in Eskay Camp, including newly discovered high-grade gold quartz vein system at Casper, located 15 km north of Nickel Mountain. Assays are pending. The company also has four projects in Mexico.
Garibaldi’s nickel discovery is a unique development in the Golden Triangle with excellent potential for significant expansion at a time of increasing nickel demand from the electric vehicle market.
Just 12 km north of the E&L nickel deposit is Garibaldi’s 100%-owned Casper high-grade gold quartz vein discovery. The Casper gold vein is a strategic low elevation target (420 metres) within a km of road access and hydroelectric power.
Field crews collected 165 samples within 250 metres north of and 250 metres south of the northwest-southeast-striking Casper vein. High-grade grab samples at Casper were reported up to 249 g/t gold and assays for 86 Casper channel samples have been released with up to 92 g/t gold and 5.69 g/t gold over 52 metres.
Mechanical trenching at the Casper gold quartz vein has further uncovered the high-grade vein over more than 120 metres, from the initial 43 metres of hand trenching exposing the discovery.
The quartz vein remains open with mineralized rock samples extending along trend for 330 metres within a 500-metre gold-in-soil and MMI (mobile metal ion) geochemical anomaly.
The latest assays from 61 channel sample assays returned gold grades ranging from 0.676 g/t gold up to 93.29 g/t gold from a channel sample that contained visible gold.
The company has 116 million shares outstanding.