Vancouver-based FPX Nickel has been awarded C$3.5-million from Natural Resources Canada’s (NRCan’s) Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund (CMIF) to advance its Baptiste nickel project, in central British Columbia.

The non-repayable contribution will cover half the estimated costs of feasibility and environmental and cultural baseline studies for the access road and electrical transmission line required to develop the project. The studies will be conducted in collaboration with First Nations and will provide key inputs into both the regulatory process and the overall feasibility study for Baptiste.

“We are grateful to receive this support from the government of Canada for the Baptiste nickel project,” said FPX Nickel president and CEO Martin Turenne. “These funds awarded under the CMIF will enable FPX to deepen its engagement with area First Nations as we advance feasibility studies and environmental and cultural baseline studies for the access road and electrical transmission infrastructure needed to unlock the potential of Baptiste. We are optimistic that area First Nations will also be in a position to avail themselves of important NRCan programming, such as the Indigenous Natural Resource Partnership Program, to complement the funding provided to FPX under the CMIF Programme.”

The powerline under study will connect the Baptiste site to BC Hydro’s Glenannan substation, near Fraser Lake, about 90 km south of the project. The 155 km route avoids major waterbodies, provincial parks and other sensitive areas. The CMIF funding will also support the design of an access road corridor linking Baptiste to provincial highways in the Fort St. James region through existing forest service roads.

Baptiste, discovered in 2010, is a large-scale, greenfield nickel project hosted in ultramafic rocks containing awaruite, a naturally occurring nickel-iron alloy. FPX highlights the project’s potential to be one of the world’s lowest carbon-intensive nickel operations, given its sulphur-free mineralisation and ability to connect to BC Hydro’s clean power grid.

Since 2010, about $55-million has been invested in exploration and development at Baptiste. In 2024, the province of British Columbia identified the project as the first to be included in its new Critical Minerals Office concierge service, designed to prioritise and fast-track critical minerals projects.