Canadian firm advances plans to tap America's largest nickel deposits in southern Oregon

Homeland Nickel, led by CEO Steve Balch, is moving forward with proposals to develop major nickel resources within the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in southern Oregon. The Canadian company holds nine mining claims in the region, including the Red Flat and Cleopatra sites. Balch estimates that Cleopatra alone represents the single largest nickel deposit in the United States by tonnage, containing more than 700 million pounds of the metal. The company plans to extract nickel from the area's laterite soils. Although a 2017 federal moratorium prohibits new mining claims in the forest, Homeland Nickel remains eligible to develop its existing historic holdings subject to a permit from the US Forest Service. The company is currently navigating federal licensing procedures as it prepares to commence operations.