Giga Metals Corporation is focused on metals critical to modern batteries, especially those used in Electric Vehicles and Energy Storage. The Company’s core asset is the Turnagain Project, located in northern British Columbia, which contains one of the few significant undeveloped sulphide nickel and cobalt resources in the world.
Giga Metals has formed a joint venture with Mitsubishi Corporation and plans to complete a Prefeasibility Study in Q3 2023.
Tell us about yourself?
I like large projects. Giga Metals has a giant deposit of nickel and cobalt in Canada called the Turnagain project, with a development cost of $2 billion U.S. This is a very challenging project to develop, but nickel is a critical mineral that plays an important role in lithium-ion batteries that are used in electric vehicles. Without nickel in lithium-ion batteries, the transition to clean energy and technology will be very difficult, if not impossible. Working in the mining industry right now is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
I would buy Twitter. I would also remind myself to keep being patient because the EV revolution will not happen without nickel.
What problem does your business solve?
Giga Metals will provide two of the critical metals needed by EV batteries: nickel and cobalt. Lithium-ion batteries contain both nickel and cobalt and batteries rich in nickel have a higher energy density and greater storage capacity. Batteries are critical to the energy transition and will play a vital role in reducing the planet’s emissions in the next 20 years.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
Our goal is to provide a responsibly sourced and environmentally sound supply of materials for the battery supply chain. Giga Metals aims to be the world’s first carbon-neutral nickel mine. By providing low-carbon nickel and cobalt, we are playing an essential role in the global race to NetZero.
At Giga Metals, we are looking to supply the world with responsibly produced nickel and cobalt. The majority of nickel today is mined in Indonesia, with extremely high carbon emissions and questionable environmental practices. If people drive electric vehicles that contain batteries, whose materials have an astronomical carbon footprint, we aren’t really solving any problems, are we?
Giga’s Turnagain project is targeting carbon neutrality, and our mine is being designed with the highest safety standards and environmental and social considerations to ensure we have responsibly produced materials.
What is your magic sauce?
Our secret sauce is our fantastic team. Giga Metals has a small team of experts. I am very lucky to work with such an intelligent group of people. We have all been attracted to this company by our belief that we are working on the premier undeveloped nickel project in the world. Our bench strength is unparalleled.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
In the next five years, Giga Metals would like to find another strategic partner to help us develop this project. In July, we will publish our Prefeasibility Study, which is a huge milestone for the company. Once this is out, we expect there to be a lot of new interest in the project. The next phases of the project will include an Environmental Assessment and Feasibility Study, and we hope to start construction within five years. We also hope to get support from the Provincial and Federal Governments on building infrastructure in Northern BC, where our project is located. We hope to develop this project in collaboration with local First Nations, communities, and the government.
Our vision is to be the world’s first carbon-neutral nickel mine and partner with a major miner, car or battery company. We are currently advancing this project with our partner Mitsubishi Corporation, and we would like to bring in a third partner. Long term, we would like to know that all EV batteries are made with low-carbon materials in a sustainable way.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
The volatility of the nickel market is a challenge but also the reason we are working on the project. The nickel market goes crazy every once in a while, and our project has incredible leverage on the price of nickel.
The last time the nickel market crashed in 2008-2009, we had to put the project on hold. But in 2023, the demand for electric vehicles is booming, and the overall share of the nickel market for batteries has risen from four per cent in 2020 to 14 per cent in 2022 and is set to increase to 18 per cent by the end of 2023 (IEA).
How can people get involved?
If you are interested in learning more, please visit our website, www.gigametals.com. For more information about the Giga Metals and the Turnagain project, you can email us at info@gigametals.com or phone us at (604) 681-2300.