Victory Nickel Announces Successful Commissioning at 7P Frac Sand Plant
Production and sales ramping up as frac sand market remains robust
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Aug 11, 2014) - Victory Nickel Inc. ("Victory Nickel" or the "Company") (TSX:NI) (www.victorynickel.ca) and its wholly-owned subsidiary Victory Silica Ltd. ("Victory Silica" or "VSL") today announced the successful completion of commissioning of its 500,000 ton-per-year Seven Persons frac sand plant (the "7P Plant") near Medicine Hat, Alberta.
"We have attained sufficient consistent throughput at the 7P Plant that we can confirm that the commissioning phase is now successfully completed," said Rene Galipeau, Vice-Chairman and CEO. "Congratulations to Ken Murdock and his team on this significant achievement. Although the commissioning process took slightly longer than expected due to damage and delays caused by the extremely severe winter weather experienced in Alberta and the rest of the country, Victory Silica has now established itself as a supplier of the highest quality frac sand available to the northern market and we expect to see sales continue to ramp up throughout the remainder of the year."
"The effort from everyone involved in establishing Victory Nickel through Victory Silica as players in the western Canadian frac sand market has been tremendous," said Ken Murdock, CEO of Victory Silica. "Going from a standing start to first frac sand production and sales in less than two years is quite an achievement. We now have 70% of the Medicine Hat-based oilfield service companies as customers. This is just the beginning however, and we have begun the push to implement Phase 2 of our business plan."
The 7P Plant represents Phase 1 of a three-phase plan whereby the Company is now processing concentrated sand imported from Wisconsin and selling various grades of finished high-quality frac sand. The 7P Plant is well located in an area populated with fracking companies, its potential customers, and is within only a few hours' trucking distance of major oil or gas play well sites. Phase 2, which includes the construction of a frac sand wet plant in Wisconsin, is expected to reduce costs and assure security of sand supply through ownership of a frac sand mine in Wisconsin. In Phase 3, the Company intends to construct a larger frac sand plant to process and distribute both imported and domestic sand, which may potentially, but not necessarily, include sand mined as a co-product of development at the Company's Minago nickel and frac sand project in Manitoba. The Company has already identified a site in Winnipeg, Manitoba for this purpose.
Second Quarter Update
The 7P Plant was in the commissioning stage during the second quarter, however significant production and sales were generated. Accordingly, sales revenues and related costs will be reported for the second quarter of 2014 rather than costs net of revenue being expensed as pre-operating costs as was done during the first quarter. The Company expects to report cash flow with its third quarter results.
About Frac Sand
Frac sand is a proppant used in the oil and gas business as a part of the hydraulic fracturing process - a means of increasing flow to the wellhead. Frac sand must have particular characteristics including achieving certain levels of crush resistance, sphericity and roundness, and it is therefore a relatively rare commodity. Vast quantities of frac sand are consumed, and more is needed all the time, as shale gas and oil plays in Canada and the US rise to prominence.
About Victory Nickel
Victory Nickel Inc. is a Canadian company with four sulphide nickel deposits containing significant NI 43-101-compliant nickel resources and a significant frac sand resource at its Minago project. Victory Nickel is focused on becoming a mid-tier nickel producer by developing its existing properties, Minago, Mel and Lynn Lake in Manitoba, and Lac Rocher in northwestern Quebec, and by evaluating opportunities to expand its nickel asset base. Through a wholly-owned subsidiary, Victory Silica Ltd., Victory Nickel has established a presence in the frac sand market through sales from its 7P Plant in Alberta prior to commencing frac sand production and sales from Minago.
Please visit the Company's website at www.victorynickel.ca. Should you wish to receive Company news via email, please email cathy@chfir.com and specify "Victory Nickel" in the subject line.
Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains certain forward-looking information. All information, other than information regarding historic fact, that addresses activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future is forward-looking information. Forward-looking information contained in this news release includes, but may not be limited to, the use of proceeds from the Offering, the Company's plans and expectations relating to future financings and the progress and success of the Company's projects, including the Company's goals and business plan with respect to the frac sand business and the future demand for frac sand. The forward-looking information contained in this news release reflects the current expectations, assumptions and/or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. With respect to the forward-looking information contained in this news release, the Company has made assumptions regarding, among other things, the Company's future working capital requirements, the Company's ability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations and access existing credit facilities and capital markets to meet its future obligations, goals and business plan, future prices for frac sand and by-products and future demand for processed frac sand. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations, including the inability of the Company to use the proceeds of the Offering as expected, the need to obtain required approvals and permits from regulatory authorities, the volatility of frac sand and by-product prices and demand and geological, technical, drilling and processing problems. Any forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable law, the Company disclaims any obligation to update or modify such forward-looking information, either because of new information, future events or for any other reason. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein.
Contact
Victory Nickel Inc.
Rene Galipeau or Sean Stokes
416.363.8527
416.626.0890
admin@victorynickel.ca
CHF Investor Relations
Cathy Hume
416.868.1079
416.868.6198
cathy@chfir.com