Canada Nickel Co. Inc. chief executive Mark Selby on Thursday afternoon was supposed to be in South Korea or Japan to meet executives.

Instead, he was about an eight-hour drive north of his home in Toronto’s West End, getting ready to board a helicopter near Timmins, with Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson, so they could tour the site of his proposed nickel mine.

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The visit marked the culmination of nearly 20 years of Selby’s efforts to build a new nickel mine in Canada, a goal he still hasn’t achieved, but is growing ever closer to now that the federal government’s new Major Projects Office added his company’s proposed Crawford Nickel mine to its list of fast-tracked projects.

Despite the gravity of the moment, Selby remained as affable and open as

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