Canada Nickel Company (CNC) has selected Stantec, a global leader in sustainable design and engineering, to provide professional environmental consulting services for the Crawford Nickel Project, located north of Timmins, Ontario. This critical minerals project, expected to be one of the largest nickel sulfide operations in the world, will help deliver the nickel and cobalt required to power the energy transition by supplying the rapidly growing electric vehicle market.
Stantec will prepare an Impact Statement, class environmental assessments (Class EAs), and the supporting technical studies to assess project impacts, identify mitigation measures, and confirm follow-up programs for the project, which will be one of the world’s largest nickel mines.
CNC has proposed to construct, operate, and eventually decommission the open-pit nickel-cobalt mine, located in Ontario’s Timmins Nickel District. In addition to nickel, other metals such as cobalt, chromium, palladium, and platinum are expected to be recovered from concentrate streams. The project is expected to produce nearly 50,000 tons of nickel annually and operate for over 40 years. Once in production, the mine is also anticipated to become one of Canada’s largest carbon-storage facilities through sequestration of carbon dioxide over the project life. Canada Nickel has developed “In-Process Tailings Carbonation,” which is expected to enable over 1 million tons of carbon storage annually.
“Stantec is excited to be part of this critical minerals project, and to leverage our unique technical and regulatory experience for CNC,” said Chris Powell, senior environmental planner at Stantec. “Our talented team of environmental assessment practitioners, who offer both national mining sector experience and local knowledge, will lead and prepare the Impact Statement through the regulatory approvals process and toward its next milestone of obtaining permits.”
The project has entered the Impact Statement Phase, under the Canadian government’s Impact Assessment Act. This phase concludes with the submission of an Impact Statement, a document that identifies and assesses the potential impacts of a project and the measures proposed to mitigate those effects.
“We’re looking forward to working alongside Stantec’s EA and permitting experts on this landmark project,” said Pierre-Philippe Dupont, vice president of sustainability for Canada Nickel Company. “Their expertise will be invaluable as we move through the approvals process. Crawford is poised to be a leader in the energy transition through our large-scale production of critical minerals, which are invaluable to the electric vehicle revolution and stainless steel markets, while also supporting Canada’s climate objectives through industrial-scale carbon capture and storage.”
Stantec brings an extensive array of environmental services experience for a variety of mining projects across Canada. For example, the firm provided expertise for a historically significant critical minerals mining project in Ontario, as Generation PGM’s Marathon Palladium-Copper Project became the first mine in the province to receive approval through a Joint Review Panel process.
Recently, the firm began environmental services work on a pair of projects in Quebec, including leading the environmental baseline program for First Mining Gold’s proposed Duparquet Gold Project and coordinating provincial and federal environmental impact assessment studies for the Troilus Gold Project alongside BluMetric. Stantec also provided environmental assessment services for Foran Mining Corporation’s McIlvenna Bay Project in Saskatchewan, which recently secured Ministerial Approval.
Featured image credit: Stantec
