Consortium plans investment in Thompson nickel mine

WINNIPEG — A newly formed company said it expects to invest as much as $280 million in nickel mining activity in Thompson.

Vale Base Metals, which owns the nickel mining operation, announced on Thursday it has partnered with three companies — Exiro Minerals Corp., Orion Resource Partners LP and Canada Growth Fund Inc. — to create a new business that will be known as Exiro Nickel Company.

The new owners aim to double production in five years and add to the operation’s current workforce of 700.

“We want to ramp up production and we want to get back to what peak periods of production were in the past,” said Shastri Ramnath, CEO of the new consortium, on Thursday.

“We see the Thompson Nickel Belt as a multigenerational asset with decades of responsible mining and value creation still ahead,” she said. “We hope that generations down the road will also be here to be mining.”

Exiro Minerals, Orion and CGF will own 81.1 per cent of the new company, and Vale will own an 18.9 per cent minority stake.

Vale chief executive officer Shaun Usmar said his company will also be Exiro Nickel’s biggest customer from day one, having signed a five-year offtake agreement for the nickel concentrate produced in Thompson, and the right to more in the future.

Exiro Nickel will acquire 100 per cent of the Thompson operations as well as the Thompson Nickel Belt claims. Nickel is used in batteries, manufacturing and electronics.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of the year, subject to closing conditions such as customary regulatory and government authorization.

If approved, the transaction will conclude the strategic review Vale launched for the Thompson operations in January 2025.

“At Vale Base Metals, our mission is to provide mineral security for a world that, candidly, is in transition,” Usmar said. “That mineral security requires global partnerships, and that’s really what this consortium brings.”

Vale will maintain day-to-day operational responsibility for the mining complex until the deal closes.

Vale is owned by Brazil-based Vale S.A., and is one of the world’s largest producers of high-quality nickel and a producer of copper and cobalt.

Exiro Minerals is a mineral exploration company headquartered in Toronto, while Orion is a New York City-based global investment company focusing on mining and minerals that manages more than $12 billion for institutional investors.

CGF, meanwhile, is a $15-billion independent investment fund that operates at arm’s length from the federal government.

The Thompson Mine Complex includes two underground operating mines, an adjacent mill and “significant exploration opportunities” on the 135-kilometre long Thompson Nickel Belt, a deposit with a history of mining since 1956, Vale stated in a news release.

In 2025, Thompson produced 12,000 metric tonnes of Vale’s finished nickel — an increase of 21.2 per cent from the 9,900 metric tonnes produced in 2024.

The Thompson operation delivers roughly 10 per cent of the nickel produced in Canada today, Usmar said.

If all goes according to plan, Exiro Nickel will eventually go public, Ramnath said.

Exiro Nickel looks forward to working closely with the City of Thompson, Ramnath said, and the company believes that First Nations and Métis should have “a meaningful voice as development moves forward.”

“As someone who is from Manitoba, this transaction is deeply personal for me,” she said. “I see this as an opportunity to reaffirm Manitoba’s position as one of the greatest mining jurisdictions on this planet, and to generate long-term employment, economic growth and prosperity for northern Manitoba.”

The $280 million will be used to invest in capital in the current operations and ramp up production, Ramnath said, adding that Exiro Nickel’s plan is to double production in the next five years.

Vale currently has 700 employees and 300 contractors. Ramnath did not give a number for how many people Exiro Nickel will add to that workforce.

“We do have some predictions for numbers and we think that it’ll be substantial to the community,” she said.

Warren Luky, president of the United Steel Workers 6166, which represents 475 employees at the Thompson mining operation, applauded the development.

The investment from Exiro Nickel will allow employees to drill to new depths and ultimately increase the life span of the mine.

“It’s kind of a sigh of relief and it gives us some time and (affirms) that there’s some longevity here,” Luky said.

Thompson Mayor Colleen Smook called the formation of Exiro Nickel “a great opportunity,” and noted the city’s almost 70-year history is inextricably linked with mining. The town was founded in 1957 and was named after John F. Thompson, then the chairman of Inco, a predecessor company to Vale.

» Winnipeg Free Press

“I’ve been here for 54 years (for) the highs and lows, and this is definitely one of the highs that is happening in Thompson,” Smook said.

» Winnipeg Free Press