FPX Nickel drills near-surface high-grade awaruite nickel zone at Advocate Nickel Property, Newfoundland
FPX Nickel Corp. [TSXV: FPX; OTCQX: FPOCF] reported positive results from the first four holes drilled along a single section at the Birchy North Target on the Advocate Nickel Property, Newfoundland. Given strong results to-date at both the Birchy North and Wolverine targets, the inaugural Advocate drill program has been expanded from an initially planned 4,000 metres to over 5,000 metres.
Highlights – Birchy North Target: Significant intercepts and scale of 279.0 metres at 0.11% Davis Tube Recoverable (DTR) nickel, including 54.0 metres at 0.14% DTR nickel from 29.0 metres downhole in hole B26-004. Also, 347.5 metres at 0.10% DTR nickel, including 63.0 metres at 0.13% DTR nickel from 234.0 metres in hole B26-001.
Drill holes B26-001 through B26-004 were drilled on one section and define high-grade awaruite nickel mineralization across approximately 350 metres wide by 300 metres deep.
Subsequent holes (B26-005 through B26-008) tested Birchy North over a strike length of 1,250 metres; assays for holes B26-005 through B26-008 are pending.
Planned drilling at the Wolverine Target has been expanded to include nine holes over a strike length of 1,800 metres. Five holes have been completed to-date at Wolverine; all holes show significant visible awaruite over broad intervals
The company has further increased mineral tenure holdings at the Advocate Property from 210.5 km2 to 237.5 km2 through recent staking activities.
“These results, from the first four drill holes at our Advocate Property in Newfoundland, demonstrate that Advocate can host awaruite mineralization with similar DTR nickel grades to those which define our Baptiste Deposit in British Columbia,” commented Keith Patterson FPX’s Vice President, Exploration. “The near-surface, high-grade intercept encountered in hole B26-004 (54 metres at 0.14% DTR nickel from 29 metres downhole) is a highly positive indication of the potential for this system to host high-grade awaruite mineralization over significant volumes.”
The Advocate Nickel Property is located in north-central Newfoundland, approximately midway between Deer Lake and the mining town of Baie Verte. The 237.5 km2 land package covers highly prospective, serpentinized ultramafic rocks and includes over 45 km strike length of the Advocate Complex ophiolite. Access is via a high-quality network of logging roads, generally no more than 5 to 10 km from the Trans-Canada Highway or Newfoundland Highway 410. The property vendor currently operates a deep-sea port at Pine Cove, approximately 50 km northeast of the property.
As described in the company’s October 1, 2026 news release, eight diamond drill holes totaling over 2,400 metres were completed at the Birchy North Target testing an area of 1,250 metres by up to 600 metres. Results have been received from the first four holes drilled.
The first four holes, drilled along a single lateral section at Birchy North, have returned DTR nickel grades over their entire lengths that average significantly above the calculated cut-off grade of 0.06% DTR nickel at FPX’s Baptiste Deposit in British Columbia (Indicated Resource of 1,815 Mt at 0.129% DTR nickel using a 0.06% cut-off.
Holes B26-001, B26-002 and B26-004 define a high-grade awaruite nickel core approximately 350 m wide by 300 m deep with DTR nickel grades generally in excess of 0.10%. This high-grade core remains open to the northwest. Within this high-grade core, hole B26-004 intersected a near-surface very high-grade interval of 54 metres at 0.14% DTR nickel from only 29 metres depth.
Holes B26-005 through B26-008 test the Birchy North Target along 1,250 metres of strike length and show visible awaruite mineralization across significant intervals in all holes. DTR nickel assay results are expected to be received in the coming weeks.
Drilling continues at the Wolverine Target, located approximately 24 km northeast of the Birchy North Target. Based on positive visual interpretation of awaruite abundance in the initial holes, the planned program at Wolverine has been expanded to include up to nine drill holes totaling approximately 2,800 metres. Planned drilling will now cover a strike length of approximately 1.8 km. Assays for all completed drill holes at Wolverine are pending.
Total nickel values in ultramafic rock samples from drilling at the Birchy North Target range from 0.18% to 0.25%. These values are consistent with typical background nickel values from ultramafic rocks sampled globally and do not represent potentially recoverable nickel. The high DTR nickel values reported indicate that the nickel in these target areas is primarily contained in awaruite with grain sizes sufficiently coarse to be recovered by magnetic separation.
As announced September 23, 2025, FPX has signed an option agreement with Shoreline Exploration Inc. to acquire up to 100% of the Advocate Nickel Property.
JOGMEC has accepted the Advocate Nickel Property as a “Designated Property” within the broader FPX-JOGMEC Generative Alliance. JOGMEC has the ability to obtain a 60% interest in Advocate and has funded 60% of project expenditures to-date; FPX holds the remaining 40% interest in Advocate and has funded 40% of project expenditures to-date.
Reported drill hole lengths are drill intersections and not necessarily true widths.
FPX has granted 250,000 stock options to an employee of the company. The stock options have an exercise price of $0.30 per share and will expire on November 6, 2031.
FPX Nickel Corp. is focused on the exploration and development of the Baptiste Nickel Project, located in central British Columbia, and other occurrences of the same unique style of naturally occurring nickel-iron alloy mineralization known as awaruite.