Highlights

• Successful infill drilling campaign targeted PGM Zones at Crawford with 45 holes intersecting drill intervals of > 1g/t palladium + platinum
• Results include:
  • 2.19 g/t palladium + platinum over core length of 76.5 metres in Crawford Main Zone including 3.90 g/t over core length of 13.5 metres
  • 1.15 g/t palladium + platinum over 38.5 metres in Crawford East Zone including 2.94 g/t over core length of 4.5 metres
• PGM results will be included in development of a Crawford PGM Zone resource estimate and incorporated into the Crawford nickel mine plan

Canada Nickel Company Inc. (TSX-V: CNC) (OTCQX: CNIKF) announced additional results from its drilling program targeting the PGM zones that occur along the Crawford Main and East Zone boundaries and within the existing mine plan outlined in the Crawford Nickel Project feasibility study.

Mark Selby, CEO of Canada Nickel, said, “We are very pleased with the drilling results of the PGM Zones for both the Crawford Main & East Zones, which occur within the existing feasibility study mine plan for Crawford. The opportunity to drill out these zones and to incorporate the findings into a PGM resource estimate have the potential to unlock incremental value from material that was previously unaccounted for, and in fact was treated as waste material within the Crawford feasibility study.”

Crawford PGM Drilling

In early drilling campaigns at Crawford, “PGM zones” were identified (Figure 1) with platinum (Pt) and palladium (Pd) mineralization (Pt+Pd or PGM) occurring within a transitional boundary between the pyroxenite and peridotite units (the “PGM zone”) that overlie the nickel-bearing dunites. In 2022, several areas were targeted for PGM mineralization throughout the whole Crawford property. Seventeen holes within the proposed Crawford pit are reported in this release. In 2024, a total of 31 holes were completed – 23 holes were drilled into the East zone, and eight new holes were drilled into the Main Zone to target the PGM zones. These zones are of interest as they reside within the boundaries of the proposed Crawford open pit and, as a resource had not been previously defined for the PGM zone, were treated as waste in the current feasibility study.

The purpose of the 2024 drill program was to provide sufficient infill drilling to produce a resource estimate on the PGM zones.  Canada Nickel successfully intersected mineralized peridotite/pyroxenite in 28 of the 31 holes drilled.   Assay results from both the 2022 and 2024 programs are tabulated in Table 1 and shown in Figure 2.

Table 1: Crawford selected PGM intervals (2024 and 2022 drilling)

Table 3: Drillhole Orientation

Assays, Quality Assurance/Quality Control and Drilling and Assay

Edwin Escarraga, MSc, P.Geo., a “qualified person” as defined by National Instrument 43-101, is responsible for the on-going drilling and sampling program, including quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC). 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. One set of samples is transported in secured bags directly from the Canada Nickel core shack to Actlabs Timmins, while a second set of samples is securely shipped to SGS Lakefield for preparation, with analysis performed at SGS Burnaby or SGS Callao (Peru). All are ISO/IEC 17025 accredited labs. Analysis for precious metals (gold, platinum, and palladium) are completed by Fire Assay while analysis for nickel, cobalt, sulphur and other elements are performed using a peroxide fusion and ICP-OES analysis. Certified standards and blanks are inserted at a rate of 3 QA/QC samples per 20 core samples making a batch of 60 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 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.

The magnetic images shown in this press release were created from Canada Nickel’s interpretation of datasets provided by the Ontario Geological Survey.

About Canada Nickel Company

Canada Nickel Company Inc. is advancing the next generation of nickel-sulphide projects to deliver nickel required to feed the high growth electric vehicle and stainless-steel markets. Canada Nickel 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 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.

Figure 1 – Crawford PGM Highlights 2024 (CNW Group/Canada Nickel Company Inc.)

Figure 2 – Crawford PGM Cross Sections East Zone (CNW Group/Canada Nickel Company Inc.)