Canada Nickel (TSXV:CNC; US- OTCQX:CNIKF) has announced the next phase of its strategic partnership with NetCarb, outlining new product opportunities and establishing a pathway to develop a zero-carbon industrial cluster in Northeastern Ontario. The collaboration aims to leverage NetCarb’s advanced carbon sequestration technology, which can utilize tailings from the Crawford Nickel project and other projects across the Timmins Nickel District. This technology captures and stores carbon dioxide while producing valuable by-products.
Mark Selby, CEO of Canada Nickel, commented that “This next phase of collaboration with NetCarb is a pivotal step forward in our strategic partnership.” He explained that the company has completed an initial assessment of high-potential products that use the minerals in their tailings, combined with the strengths of Northeast Ontario and their proprietary technologies. This assessment identifies potential anchor industries for a zero-carbon industrial cluster in the region.
Selby stated that, similar to their development of the patented IPT Carbonation process, they will rapidly evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of each opportunity, utilizing government funding to advance each from laboratory testing to pilot projects and eventual full-scale development. This approach will help the company attract potential partners to support these initiatives as it continues to focus on its flagship Crawford project.
Since announcing their strategic partnership on June 9, 2025, Canada Nickel and NetCarb have made progress in understanding how the NetCarb process can create value from Crawford tailings. They believe this technology could sequester up to ten times more CO₂ than the IPT Carbonation method, while also generating by-products such as hydrogen and magnesium.
Dr. Luke Keeney, Managing Director and CEO of NetCarb, stated that “NetCarb’s enhanced carbon sequestration technology could significantly extend the value of Canada Nickel’s tailings, positioning the Timmins Nickel District as a leading decarbonization hub in Eastern Canada and unlocking new industries and economic opportunities for the region.”
Through laboratory, pilot, and engineering activities, Canada Nickel and NetCarb will advance a rapid development program to demonstrate this innovative process. They will focus on three promising by-product areas: blue-green hydrogen and hydrogen-based products such as ammonia, urea, and ammonium nitrate, magnesium-based products, and enhanced carbon removal using local biomass.
The NetCarb process offers the potential to produce low-carbon or carbon-neutral hydrogen by combining steam methane reforming (SMR) with carbon sequestration in the tailings. This method, which blends features of both blue and green hydrogen, captures the CO₂ during reforming, resulting in a low-cost, low-emission hydrogen product. Hydrogen from this process can serve as a zero-emission fuel that could be supplied via nearby natural gas pipelines, reducing the natural gas sector’s carbon footprint. The produced hydrogen can also be converted into ammonia and urea, both of which are essential in fertilizer production and agricultural applications. Additionally, urea could help improve regional fertilizer self-sufficiency, as it is currently largely imported into Eastern Canada.
The joint development program will concentrate on three main areas: blue-green hydrogen and low-carbon fertilizers, magnesium-based products—including magnesium carbonate (MgCO₃) and magnesium oxide (MgO)—and enhanced carbon removal through local biomass utilization. Canada Nickel and NetCarb aim to continue progress through laboratory, pilot, and engineering phases, with the goal of establishing northeastern Ontario as a leading center for zero-carbon industrial development.
Given the vast ultramafic resources in the Timmins Nickel District, there is significant potential to produce high-value by-products. NetCarb estimates that each tonne of Crawford tailings could store about 300 kilograms of CO₂ while generating around 55 kilograms of hydrogen. This hydrogen could further be used to produce approximately 310 kilograms of ammonia or 545 kilograms of urea.
In addition to hydrogen, NetCarb’s technology produces magnesium materials, which can be processed into products such as magnesium carbonate (MgCO₃) or magnesium oxide (MgO). The latter, being highly reactive with CO₂, can serve as a distributed carbon capture agent for businesses across Eastern Canada. By utilizing the provincial road and rail network, MgO produced from Crawford tailings could be transported and deployed beyond Timmins, broadening the impact of regional carbon sequestration efforts. Each tonne of Crawford tailings has the potential to generate 270 kilograms of low-carbon or carbon-neutral MgO.
Northeastern Ontario also has considerable biomass resources, much of which has been underutilized since extensive pulp, paper, and forestry operations have shut down over the past two decades. Canada Nickel has already begun exploring the use of local biomass as a reductant to reduce the carbon footprint of its processing facilities. The partnership between Canada Nickel and NetCarb envisions utilizing forestry biomass and agricultural waste to produce biofuels or generate energy, with the CO₂ generated being captured and sequestered using Crawford tailings and the NetCarb process.
