Highlights

• Main Zone drilling extended mineralization to the north and northwest by 1.8 kilometres across true widths of 120 to 320 metres
• First higher grade PGM intersections in main dunite mineralization – two holes yielded true width of 3.9 metres of 1.6 g/t PGM and 0.49% nickel, and 6.7 metres of 1.6 g/t PGM and 0.30% nickel
• PGM zone successfully intersected by an additional 5 holes (20 holes total in Main Zone across 2.4 km strike length). New PGM zone discovered at North Zone
• Initial North Zone assay results defined nickel mineralization along strike length of 400 metres up to 200 metres wide and 400 metres deep and remains open in all directions
• East Zone drilling completed across 1.9 kilometres of strike length with 1.1 kilometres untested ultramafic remaining to the east

Canada Nickel Company Inc. (TSX-V: CNC) (OTCQB: CNIKF) announced assay results from the latest 34 drill holes from the Crawford area.  A further 26 holes have been drilled at Crawford with assays pending.

“Our Preliminary Economic Assessment is based on a mineral resource cut-off from approximately eight months ago. Since then, we have completed more than double the amount of drilling. Today’s results clearly demonstrate the potential to significantly increase the size and quality of the mineral resource through the success of the infill drilling and the extension of the Main Zone by 1.8 kilometres to the northwest, initial assay results from the North Zone, and successful infill drilling in the East Zone. Today’s results also highlight the PGM potential to be incorporated in the feasibility study, expected in mid-2022, as we develop a path to market which is expected to deliver nickel units into the electric vehicle sector alongside the stainless steel path included in the PEA.  This path to market is expected to allow the recovery of PGMs along with cobalt, generating additional revenues from metals already being recovered into concentrate. I look forward to further results from Crawford as we continue to explore the district potential of our Timmins land package,” said Mark Selby, Chair and CEO of Canada Nickel.

The Crawford Nickel Sulphide Project is located in the heart of the prolific Timmins-Cochrane mining camp in Ontario, Canada, and is adjacent to well-established, major infrastructure associated with over 100 years of regional mining activity.

Main Zone – Western Extension

Assays have been received from 10 holes between the existing Main Zone resource and north-westernmost extent of the geophysical anomaly, which have extended the envelope of mineralized dunite by 1.8 km from the northwest boundary of the current resource. Four additional holes from this area were previously reported in the Company’s January 14, 2021 news release and a further eight holes have been drilled and have assays pending.  8 of 10 holes intersected higher grade material (>0.30% nickel) ranging in true widths of 17 to 71 metres. See Figure 1 and Table 1 for results.

Main Zone – Western Extension – Nickel + PGM Intervals

Holes 106A and 109 have yielded the first higher grade PGM intersections in the Main Zone mineralization – true width of 3.9 metres of 1.6 g/t PGM and 0.49% nickel, and 6.7 metres of 1.6 g/t PGM and 0.30% nickel, respectively. This area and another area 800 metres to the north with a similar geophysical footprint will be a focus of future exploration efforts to further delineate this higher grade zone of mineralization. See Table 3c for results.

West Zone Drilling Results – Lower Grade Zone

Nine holes were completed in the lower grade section of the western side of the Crawford structure which continued to return wide, lower grade intersections. Hole 83 returned 0.23% nickel over an entire core length of 441 metres, including 6.0 metres of 0.33% nickel. Hole 80 was also mineralized over the entire core length, returning 0.23% nickel over 453 metres, including 0.37% nickel over 19.5 metres. The first two holes, previously released on January 14, 2021, in this part of the West Zone confirm wide, lower grade mineralization more than 800 metres wide. See Figure 1 and Table 2 for results.

Table 1 – Main Zone Western Extension – Drilling Results, Crawford Nickel Sulphide Project, Ontario

Table 2 – West Zone Lower Grade Nickel – Drilling Results, Crawford Nickel Sulphide Project, Ontario

PGM Zone

Eight holes were drilled with five of the holes intersecting the PGM zone. These additional results confirm the association of a PGM zone on the boundary of the gravity high structure which has a circumference of approximately 9.7 kilometres and borders the nickel mineralization in the Main and East Zones. Grades and true widths are consistent with previously reported drilling with higher grade intervals of 1.7 to 3.5 g/t of PGMs across true widths of 1.1 to 3.2 metres within wider intervals of 0.9 to 1.2 g/t of PGMs across true widths of 5.8 to 6.4 metres.

Table 3  – PGM Zone – Drilling Results, Crawford Nickel Sulphide Project, Ontario

Holes 67, 68 and 101 drilled short of PGM zones and intersected no significant mineralization.

North Zone

Six holes were drilled into the North Zone, delineating nickel mineralization across a strike length of 400 metres by 200 metres wide by 400 metres deep which remains open along strike and at depth. Similar PGM grades and widths were achieved to the Main Zone and East Zone PGM grades where drill holes intersected the boundary of adjacent gravity high on the south side of the structure.

Table 4  – North Zone – Drilling Results, Crawford Nickel Sulphide Project, Ontario

East Zone

Assays for three drill holes have been received which continue to successfully in-fill and upgrade the East Zone outside of the existing resource.  Mineralized intervals yielded mineralized dunite over true widths of 191 to 260 metres.

Table 5  – East Zone – Drilling Results, Crawford Nickel Sulphide Project, Ontario

Next Steps

The Company will continue to focus on upgrading and extending the resource at Crawford in order to deliver an updated mineral resource estimate by early 2022 to be utilized for the feasibility study expected to be completed by mid 2022. The Company will also focus on exploring the district scale potential of its regional property package.

Table 6 – Drill Hole Orientation, Crawford Nickel-Cobalt Sulphide Project, Ontario

Assays, Quality Assurance/Quality Control and Drilling and Assay Procedures

William E. MacRae, MSc, P.Geo., a “qualified person” as defined by NI 43-101, is responsible for the on-going drilling and sampling program, including quality assurance and quality control. The core is collected from the drill in sealed core trays and transported to the core logging facility. The core is marked and sampled at 1.5 metre lengths and cut with a diamond blade saw. Samples are bagged with QA/QC samples inserted in batches of 35 samples per lot. Samples are transported in secure bags directly from the Canada Nickel core shack to Actlabs Timmins, an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited lab. Analysis for precious metals (gold, platinum and palladium) are completed by Fire Assay while analysis for nickel, cobalt, sulphur and 17 other elements are performed using a peroxide fusion and ICP-OES analysis. Certified standards and blanks are inserted at a rate of one QA/QC sample per 32 core samples making a batch of 35 samples that are submitted for analysis.

Qualified Person and Data Verification

Stephen J. Balch P.Geo. (ON), VP Exploration of Canada Nickel and a “qualified person” as such term is defined by National Instrument 43-101, has verified the data disclosed in this news release, and has otherwise reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release on behalf of Canada Nickel Company Inc.

About Canada Nickel Company

Canada Nickel Company Inc. is advancing the next generation of nickel sulphide projects to deliver nickel and cobalt required to feed the high growth electric vehicle and stainless steel markets.  Canada Nickel Company has applied in multiple jurisdictions to trademark the terms NetZero Nickel^TM, NetZero Cobalt^TM, NetZero Iron^TM and is pursuing the development of processes to allow the production of net zero carbon nickel, cobalt, and iron products. Canada Nickel provides investors with leverage to nickel and cobalt in low political risk jurisdictions.  Canada Nickel is currently anchored by its 100% owned flagship Crawford Nickel-Cobalt Sulphide Project in the heart of the prolific Timmins-Cochrane mining camp.