Talon Metals Corp, which is earning into the high-grade Tamarack nickel-copper-cobalt project in Minnesota, has hailed the latest action by President Joe Biden and Congress concerning the US battery supply chain.
The bipartisan 'Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act' was signed into law on Monday, November 15, 2021, and contained significant funding support for electric vehicle (EV) adoption, EV battery charging infrastructure and over US$6 billion for developing battery materials processing capacity in the US, including nickel.
"Members from both parties backed funding for critical minerals processing, which will allow the U.S. to leap-frog legacy processing approaches and deploy modern, lower carbon technology at large scale to ensure security of domestic supply in essential battery materials like nickel," noted Henri van Rooyen, Talon CEO, in a statement.
"Talon is ready to work with potential technology partners and the U.S. government to build nickel processing capacity that will establish the U.S. as a global leader in battery manufacturing for both EVs and energy storage."
Last week, the Biden administration added nickel to the US "critical minerals" list.
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Recently, Talon also struck a deal with Carbon Capture Inc covering the testing of the latter's US-developed, low-cost Direct Air Capture technology at the Tamarack project.
Talon is now carrying out research and development on carbon reactive rocks at the property to convert carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere to solid rock form for purposes of carbon storage.
"The bipartisan infrastructure bill not only supports U.S. leadership in EV battery materials, but it also provides significant funding for Direct Air Capture and carbon storage," added Talon's head of climate strategy Todd Malan.
"Negative emissions technology like Direct Air Capture coupled with permanent storage like carbon mineralization is another strategic investment in the fight against climate change. Given its unique geology, Minnesota can be at the forefront of this new approach."
In a separate statement, Talon posted its third-quarter results to-end September, showing that capitalized exploration costs and deferred expenditures on the Minnesota project came in at $14.2 million, versus $2.3 million for 3Q, 2020.
The net loss was $1.5 million, compared to a loss of $0.5 million in 3Q, 2020, due to administration expenses and stock option compensation, it said.
Talon is in a joint venture with mining titan Rio Tinto on the Tamarack project and has an earn-in to acquire up to 60%.
Contact the writer at giles@proactiveinvestors.com