The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that Canada Nickel Company is raising $20-million from an Ontario first nation, the largest funding of its kind in the Canadian critical minerals industry and one that could be a model for other small mining companies. The Globe's Niall McGee writes that Taykwa Tagamou Nation, a Cree first nation in the Cochrane district of Northern Ontario, is buying convertible notes in Canada Nickel, which will pay an annual interest rate of 4.75 per cent and can be converted to common shares. The first nation would own an 8.3-per-cent equity interest in the nickel development company if the securities were converted. Canada Nickel is developing the Crawford nickel-cobalt project near Timmins, which contains the world's second-largest reserve of nickel. The Toronto-based company plans to supply the critical mineral to Canada's nascent electric-vehicle battery industry. Taykwa Tagamou Nation is also getting a seat on Canada Nickel's board, giving the community a say in the development of the project as it moves toward production over the next three years. Crawford sits on the traditional territories of the first nation. Nickel mined at Crawford will be earmarked for the EV industry.