Haywood Securities’ Analyst Stefan Ioannou (SI) was interviewed by The Gold Report and spoke about base metals.

SI: We don't cover much in the nickel space, but there have been a few notable discoveries recently.

One of the best is North American Nickel Inc. (NAN:TSX.V). This is a grassroots play in Greenland. The company's Maniitsoq project includes a recent discovery at a target called Imiak Hill. As early as this past summer, we knew the company had hit massive sulfides. At the time, the question was if they were nickel-bearing sulfides. The answer appears to be yes.

Last month, the company released a discovery hole: 19 meters (19m) of 4.3% nickel and 0.6% copper plus a bit of cobalt. A significant intersection. Subsequently, another hole returned 25m grading 3.2% nickel and 1.1% copper.

Those grades are similar to the Voisey's Bay discovery in the 1990s, although that was underpinned by intervals upward of 100m thick. The thickness at Imiak Hill isn't quite the same, but the grades definitely are.

It's a quiet period for North American Nickel now; it won't get back out to the project until the spring. In the meantime, it can go through the data and nail down drill targets for 2014 and start demonstrating Maniitsoq's potential size.

TGR: North American Nickel bills Maniitsoq as being bigger than the Sudbury Basin. Is that valid?

SI: I think the land position is larger, yes. Obviously the question is if it is all nickel bearing.

TGR: Sudbury Basin isn't all nickel bearing either.

SI: Fair enough. The interesting question is why look for nickel in Greenland? The rocks at Maniitsoq are the same rocks that host Voisey's Bay. At one time, they were connected. Now, because of tectonics, there's a sea between them.

TGR: Does this shift North American Nickel's focus away from Post Creek/Halcyon and North Thompson to Maniitsoq?

SI: Maniitsoq is definitely North American Nickel's flagship project. It's a junior company with a modest market cap. Its value will be derived from Maniitsoq. Will the company shut off work at those other projects? Probably not, but the market will want to see the company spend most of its energy and capital at Maniitsoq.