On January 25, Canadian mining and exploration company First Nickel Inc. announced continued progress at its Lockerby mine in Ontario, Canada, stating that it aims to reach full production by the end of the year.
First Nickel said that its production is expected to come in at between 6.3 million to 7.4 million pounds of payable nickel for 2012. It hopes to be at or near the full production rate of 10 million pounds of nickel per annum in the fourth quarter of 2012.
In addition, First Nickel stated that it continues to make steady progress on the Lockerby depth project, which was launched in 2011, and that it shipped 21,717 mt of nickel ore to global miner Xstrata from Lockerby during the fourth quarter of 2011.