Royal Nickel's Dumont Nickel Project is a mammoth deposit near the town of Amos in the established Abitibi mining camp in the mining-friendly Canadian province of Québec. When in production, it is expected to rank as the fifth-largest nickel sulphide operation in the world by annual production – only the mining operations at Norilsk (Russia), Sudbury (Ontario, Canada), Jinchuan (China) and Voisey’s Bay (Newfoundland and Labrador) will be larger.

The Dumont deposit contains approximately 6.3 billion pounds of nickel in the probable reserve category (a probable reserve of 1,070 million tonnes at 0.27% nickel) and 8.4 billion pounds of nickel resources in the measured and indicated category (a measured resource of 190 million tonnes at 0.29% nickel and an indicated resource of 1.2 billion tonnes at 0.27% nickel). In the inferred resource category there is approximately 3.9 billion pounds of nickel (695 million tonnes at 0.26% nickel). The Dumont deposit also remains open at depth, which means there is potential to increase its size.

Once in operation, the mine will produce nickel for at least 30 years. Construction and operation of the mine and processing facilities will be made easier by the existence of excellent infrastructure, including roads, rail and access to low-cost power.

Ores from the mine will be processed using proven, conventional methods into a high-grade nickel concentrate, and then transported for further refining elsewhere. The mine will have no acid-generating rock or tailings, which has beneficial implications for environmental management.

Economic Analysis
Parameter	Pre-Tax	After Tax
NPV ($ millions @ 8%)	$1,918	$1,083
IRR	20.2%	16.6%
Simple Payback Period (years)	–	6.5

Operating Summary
Production	Units	50 ktpd Year 1–52	100 ktpd Year 6–192	Stockpile Year 20–31	Total
Ore Mined1	Mt	148	922	–	1,070
Strip Ratio1	Waste: Ore	1.23	1.17	–	1.18
Ore Milled	Mt	75	530	465	1,070
Ore Grade	% Ni	0.33	0.29	0.24	0.27
Recovery		49%	47%	31%	41%
Nickel in Concentrate	MM lbs	263	1,564	748	2,575

Annual Production (Contained Metals in Concentrate)
	Units	50 ktpd Year 1–52	100 ktpd Year 6–192	Stockpile Year 20–31	Average
Nickel	MM lbs (kt)	62 (28)	108 (49)	59 (27)	82 (37)
Cobalt	MM lbs (kt)	3 (1)	6 (3)	6 (3)	6 (3)
PGM (Pt + Pd)	k oz	13	23	14	18

Operating Revenue and Costs
	Units	50 ktpd Year 1–52	100 ktpd Year 6–192	Stockpile Year 20–31	Average
NSR	$/t	$26.68	$22.38	$13.42	$18.79
Mine	$/t	$4.49	$5.07	$0.78	$3.16
Process	$/t	$4.62	$4.25	$4.25	$4.27
G&A	$/t	$0.86	$0.44	$0.39	$0.45
Site Costs	$/t	$9.96	$9.76	$5.42	$7.89
C1 Cash Costs	$/lb	$3.80	$4.29	$3.91	$4.13

¹Totals for 50 ktpd include 13 million tonnes of ore and 50 million tonnes of waste pre-stripped before production commences.
²Year 5 is a transition year from 50 to 100 ktpd and year 19 is a transition year from run of mine ore to stockpile processing.

Key Assumptions
Parameter	Assumption
NPV Discount Rate (%)	8%
Nickel Price ($ per pound)	$9.00
Initial Capital Cost ($ millions)	$1,112
Expansion Capital Cost ($ millions)	$733
Total Site Operating Cost ($ millions)	$8,435
Total Sustaining Capital Cost ($ millions)	$733
Total TC/RC Costs ($ millions)	$3,052
Cobalt Price ($ per pound)	$12.00
Platinum Price ($ per ounce)	$1,500
Palladium Price ($ per ounce)	$750
Electricity (CDN$ per kilowatt hour)	$0.043