Giga Metals [TSXV: GIGA] has announced that the company intends to complete a non-brokered private placement of up to 10,000,000 units at a price of $0.15 per unit to raise gross proceeds of up to $1,500,000.
Each unit will consist of one common share of the company and one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one common share of the company for a period of three years following the closing of the private placement at an exercise price of $0.22 per warrant share.
Giga plans to use the net proceeds of the private placement for general corporate purposes and working capital. Completion of the private placement is subject to certain conditions, including the receipt of the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.
Giga Metals was one of a number of companies which presented to institutional investors at The Armchair Trader’s Beyond the Channel CEO seminar last November.
Giga Metals’ Turnagain Project
Giga Metals’ Turnagain Project is among the largest undeveloped sulphide nickel deposits in the world. The project is located in northern British Columbia on the traditional territory of the Tahltan and Kaska Dena tribes, 65 kilometers east of Dease Lake and 400 kilometers north of the Port of Stewart.
The project’s Positive Pre-Feasibility Study was filed in October 2023 and models an annual production of 35,224 tonnes of nickel and 2,064 tonnes of cobalt for 30 years. Giga Metals, a Canadian junior, has partnered with Mitsubishi Corporation [TYO:8058] to develop the project to the Bankable Feasibility Level.
The Turnagain deposit is open to expansion and other than its Horsetrail Zone, the Turnagain intrusive remains underexplored.
Ready to ride the green transition wave
The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that the world will need 60 new nickel mines by 2030, alongside 50 new lithium mines and 17 new cobalt mines to meet the demands of the energy-transition.
The North American battery supply chain issues have yet to be resolved, with an estimated 250,000 to 400,000 tons per year of new nickel supply needed to feed the announced projects in North America alone. Most global production is unsuitable for batteries, but Canada has nickel mines, smelters and refineries all targeting Class 1 nickel.
The Turnagain Project is well positioned to meet these demands since the resource is modelled to produce a clean, high-grade concentrate containing 18% nickel and 1% cobalt. This proportion is ideal for the most popular electric vehicle batteries with nickel making up about 80% of the cathode component and cobalt about 10%.
Turnagain compares favourably against typical Indonesian laterite projects which are a major source of the world’s high purity nickel supplies. The deep nature of the Turnagain deposit will minimise deforestation (unlike Indonesian strip mining), with low erosion potential and much reduced biodiversity impacts.
Giga Metals aims to set up a processing plant which will be installed in slightly offset stages to maximise efficiency of construction and commissioning. The primary crusher will be located adjacent to the mine to reduce haul distances. Multiple testwork campaigns have show 15-21% Ni, with a desirable nickel sulphide concentrate product. It is low in impurities such as arsenic, mercury and cadmium.
