Exiro Nickel takes ownership of Thompson Mine Complex

Exiro Nickel Company is officially the majority owner of nickel mining operations in Thompson.

The new firm announced its intent to buy Vale Base Metals’ mining complex in February. Ink dried on the deal Thursday evening, Exiro chief executive Shastri Ramnath said.

Leadership aims to double mining production — to two million tonnes from one million annually — over the next five years.

Such output used to be seen in Thompson, Ramnath said.

She plans to increase production by building tunnels to Howling Wolf, a deposit containing roughly 15 million tonnes of nickel concentrate, over the next two to three years.

Some 675 workers at the complex will keep their jobs, Ramnath said.

Exiro aims to be cash flow positive in the next two to three years. To do so, it must increase production, Ramnath said.

The company has tabbed up to $280 million for operations. Of that, up to $116 million is coming from the Canada Growth Fund, one of three partners encompassing Exiro Nickel. The $15 billion fund operates at arm’s length from the federal government.

Exiro Minerals Corp., a Toronto-based exploration company, and Orion Resource Partners, an investment firm based in New York City, make up the other two partners.

Exiro Nickel will have a Toronto office. It’ll keep a full operational presence in Thompson, according to a news release.

The company plans to explore 135 kilometres of claims on the Thompson Nickel Belt, starting next year.

“We fully believe that there is discovery potential in that ground,” Ramnath said, adding Exiro plans to manage the operation “safely and responsibly.”

The Thompson Nickel Belt is the fourth largest nickel district in the world. Vale, a Brazilian company, oversaw operations beginning in 2006. It had acquired Inco, which had run commercial production at the complex since 1961.

Vale now holds an 18.9 per cent ownership stake. It announced a “strategic review,” which included considering a sale, in January 2025.

Vale will buy concentrate from the Thompson nickel complex.

The new deal protects local jobs, Premier Wab Kinew said Friday. He’s set a goal of tripling mining production in Manitoba over the next five years.

“The province-wide target doesn’t happen without this,” Kinew said during a news conference. “In order for us to hit that target, everything needs to triple.

“We need to be doing more potash, more critical minerals, more precious metals.”

Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation Chief Cheryl Moore warned against excluding her community from development and its benefits.

“We don’t want to be left out anymore,” Moore said. “We’ve been left out for decades, for a long time, with the mining industries and other industries that have developed in our own backyards.”

The environment and community members have suffered as a result, Moore added.

Her comments came after the Friday news conference had restarted. The government-led event ended without Moore getting a chance to speak.

When it restarted some 30 to 40 minutes later, Kinew apologized: “The element of protocol and trust building was seriously mishandled. Quite frankly, I am embarrassed.”

Moore thanked Kinew for the apology, adding she wants a “lasting relationship” with Exiro; she met with Ramnath earlier in the month.

The two discussed transferring the mineral exploration agreement NCN signed with Vale last year. The agreement will continue, Ramnath said in an interview Friday afternoon.

Ramnath added she “couldn’t agree more” that NCN, and all First Nations communities, should benefit from mining.

The Thompson Mine Complex includes two underground operating mines and an adjacent mill.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com