Victory Nickel Applies for Amendment to Minago EAL
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Apr 30, 2014) - Victory Nickel Inc. ("Victory Nickel" or the "Company") (NI.TO) today announced that it has filed an Environmental Act Proposal ("EAP") to amend its Environmental Act Licence ("EAL"). The amendment provides for the relocation of the Minago project tailings impoundment to an area much more suitable than previously proposed in the feasibility study ("FS"). The EAL allows the development of its Minago nickel project in central Manitoba.
"The Company continues to investigate all options that have the potential to enhance the economics of the Minago project," said Steve Harapiak, President and COO of Victory Nickel. "This latest revision is one of the most significant of various improvements which will be implemented when we develop the nickel mine, and is very timely given the recent improvement in the price of nickel."
The Minago open pit is expected to produce approximately 110 million pounds of nickel per year for approximately nine years (see news release dated May 2, 2011). The open pit represents only a portion of the overall resource at Minago. While mining the open pit, the Company will plan for potential underground mining and for development of other pits on the North Limb if possible.
In addition to the nickel potential at the Minago project, a portion of the overburden has been identified to contain approximately 11 million tonnes of frac sand which has to be removed as part of the stripping of the pit. Recently, Victory Nickel, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Victory Silica, has entered the frac sand industry by constructing a 500,000 ton per annum frac sand processing facility in Seven Persons, just south of Medicine Hat, Alberta. The plant is in the commissioning stage and has made its first sales.
About Frac Sand
Frac sand is a proppant used in the oil and gas business as a part of the hydraulic fracturing process - a means of increasing flow to the wellhead. Frac sand must have particular characteristics including achieving certain levels of crush resistance, sphericity and roundness, and it is therefore a relatively rare commodity. Vast quantities of frac sand are consumed, and more is needed all the time, as shale gas plays in Canada and the US rise to prominence.
About Victory Silica Ltd.
Victory Silica is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company with a phased plan to establish itself in the frac sand market. In Phase 1, Victory Silica completed the construction of a 500,000 ton per annum frac sand processing facility in Seven Persons Alberta (the "7P Plant") near Medicine Hat. Partially-processed premium quality Midwest sand purchased in Wisconsin will be shipped to the 7P Plant for final processing and distribution. The 7P Plant is well located in an area populated with fracking companies, its potential customers and is within only a few hours' trucking distance of major oil play well sites. Phase 2, which includes the construction of a concentrator in Wisconsin, will reduce costs and assure security of sand supply through the control of a frac sand mine in Wisconsin. In Phase 3, Victory Silica has identified a site in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where it plans to build a larger frac sand plant to process and distribute both imported and domestic sands, including sand mined as a co-product of development of a nickel mine at the Company's 100%-owned Minago project in Manitoba. With margins expected to be in excess of $25 per ton of frac sand sold, Victory Silica should generate sufficient cash flow in Phases 1 and 2 to provide the financial flexibility to expand its activities by developing a second plant as Phase 3 of its growth plan.
About Victory Nickel
Victory Nickel Inc. is a Canadian company with four sulphide nickel deposits containing significant NI 43-101-compliant nickel resources. Victory Nickel is focused on becoming a mid-tier nickel producer by developing its existing properties, Minago, Mel and Lynn Lake in Manitoba, and Lac Rocher in northwestern Québec, and by evaluating opportunities to expand its nickel asset base. Through a wholly-owned subsidiary, Victory Silica Ltd., Victory Nickel is establishing a presence in the frac sand market prior to commencing frac sand production and sales from Minago.
Please visit the Company's website at www.victorynickel.ca. Should you wish to receive Company news via email, please email cathy@chfir.com and specify "Victory Nickel" in the subject line.
Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains forward-looking information. All statements, other than statements of historic fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future constitute forward-looking information. This forward-looking information reflects the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking information is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things: uncertainty of estimates of capital and operating costs, production estimates and estimated economic return; the possibility that actual circumstances will differ from estimates and assumptions; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future; failure to establish estimated mineral resources; fluctuations in commodity prices and currency exchange rates; inflation; recoveries being less than those indicated by the testwork carried out to date (there can be no assurance that recoveries in small scale laboratory tests will be duplicated in large tests under on-site conditions or during production); changes in equity markets; operating performance of facilities; environmental and safety risks; delays in obtaining or failure to obtain necessary permits and approvals from government authorities; unavailability of plant, equipment or labour; inability to retain key management and personnel; changes to regulations or policies affecting the Company's activities; the uncertainties involved in interpreting geological data; and the other risks disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's annual information form dated March 31, 2014 filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein.
