Canada Nickel announces positive test results for new carbon capture process

TORONTO—Canada Nickel Company Inc. has announced the results of a laboratory test program for a new method of accelerated carbon capture the company believes has “transformative” potential.

The test demonstrates that In Process Tailings Carbonation (IPT Carbonation) could allow Crawford tailings to absorb enough CO₂ to achieve net-zero carbon emissions within 36 hours and generate up to 21 tonnes of CO₂ credits per tonne of nickel produced within just six days.

Existing passive tailing processes take multiple months, stated a release.

At Canada Nickel’s Crawford Project in northern Ontario, the improvement would translate into an average of approximately 710,000 tonnes of CO₂ credits per year and 18 million total tonnes of CO₂ credits over the preliminary economic assessment life-of-mine.  

Mark Selby, chair and CEO of Canada Nickel commented, “These lab scale test results demonstrate a potentially transformative process to turn a nickel mine into a net generator of carbon credits rather than a generator of carbon emissions. 

“Our active and accelerated process has the potential to operate at least eight to 12 times faster than current passive approaches, delivering carbon capture at a multiple of what industry leaders are currently able to achieve.”

The company stated that, given its relative simplicity, the new process could be scaled up with availability of concentrated, rather than atmospheric, sources of CO₂.

Work is underway to optimize the process, stated Canada Nickel.