Canada Nickel drills 2.6% nickel over 5.2 metres at Textmont, Ontario

Canada Nickel Company Inc. [CNC-TSXV; CNIKF-OTCQX] released assay results from the first 12 holes of its initial drill program at the 100%-owned Texmont property that confirm high-grade, near-surface nickel mineralization. Texmont is located 36 km south of Timmins, northeastern Ontario.

The company has drilled a total of 9,670 metres, completing its initial phase to support the development of a mineral resource at Texmont expected to be delivered later this year.

Mark Selby, chair and CEO, said: “We are excited by the results of our initial phase of drilling and assay results at Texmont which confirm our thesis of near-surface, high-grade intervals of nickel that is present within thick mineralized sections, which support the potential for near-term, smaller-scale, open-pit production. This near-term production potential is highly complementary to our large-scale Crawford and regional nickel sulphide project.”

The Texmont property is considered to be a komatiite flow rather than a dunite sill with sections of highly mineralized peridotite and dimensions approximately 1.2 km long by up to 150 metres wide.

Canada Nickel has drilled 39 drill holes to date, 34 of which targeted the known mineralization and five of which targeted a possible north extension. This news release contains the assay results from the first 12 holes totalling 3,204 metres. Historic drilling confirms the mineralization pinches out to the south but remains open to the north and at depth. Further drilling to the north of the former mine shaft intersected thick sections of mineralized peridotite but assay results are not yet available.

TEX22-01 was collared directly over komatiite and intersected a thick sequence of mineralized peridotite, ending in strongly serpentinized dunite, with minor dikes encountered near the top of the hole. The hole averaged 0.29% nickel over 240.7 metres, including a higher-grade section of 0.52% nickel over 22.1 metres.

TEX22-02 was collared 100 metres northeast of TEX22-01 and intersected mineralized komatiite six metres below surface, intersecting mineralized peridotite for a length of 120.0 metres until encountering gabbro at the lower contact. The hole averaged 0.34% nickel over 120.0 metres, including 0.55% nickel over 45.7 metres from 10.5 metres downhole.

TEX22-03 intersected mineralized peridotite from 1.8 metres to the end of hole at 150.0 metres. The hole averaged 0.40% nickel over 148.2 metres, including 1.22% nickel and 0.18 g/t platinum plus palladium over 21.0 metres.

TEX22-04 was collared within the hangingwall intersecting mafic volcanics and then gabbro before encountering mineralized peridotite. The mineralized peridotite averaged 0.31% nickel over 200.2 metres, including 0.56% nickel over 34.2 metres.

TEX22-05 was collared in hangingwall mafic volcanics and was aimed to cut across the strike length of the mineralized komatiite. The hole intersected 362.8 metres of peridotite averaging 0.18% nickel over 362.8 metres, including 42.0 metres of 0.41% nickel.

TEX22-06 was drilled 100 m southeast of TEX22-03 in komatiite and intersected mineralized peridotite, with minor intersections of late dikes. The hole averaged 0.24% nickel over 285.8 metres, including a high-grade section of 1.45% nickel and 0.28 g/t Pt plus Pd over 12.0 metres.

TEX22-07 was collared 100 southeast of TEX22-03, intersecting komatiite followed by a moderate to strongly mineralized peridotite, interrupted by minor diabase dikes. The hole averaged 0.24% nickel over 294.0 metres including 0.33% nickel over 100.2 metres and 0.41% nickel over 43.5 metres.

TEX22-08 was collared 50 metres south of TEX22-07 and drilled to the west. The hole started in komatiite and continued into peridotite, ending in peridotite. The hole averaged 0.22% nickel over 272.7 metres including 0.31% nickel over 100.2 metres.

TEX22-09 was collared at the same location as TEX22-08 but at a steeper dip. The hole started in komatiite and continued into peridotite, ending in peridotite. Mineralization averaged 0.20% nickel over 243.0 metres, including 0.28% nickel over 64.5 metres and 0.35% nickel over 49.3 metres.

TEX22-10 was collared 50 metres south of TEX22-08 and intersected a thick section of mineralized peridotite interrupted by a minor sliver of metasedimentary rocks. The hole averaged 0.18% nickel over 247.5 metres including 0.24% nickel over 75.0 metres.

TEX22-11 was collared at the same location as TEX22-10 but drilled at a steeper angle. The hole intersected two sections of mineralized peridotite, 0.28% nickel over 216.2 metres and 66.9 metres of 0.25% nickel. The upper mineralized interval included a higher-grade section of 129.8 metres of 0.37% and 19.5 metres of 0.96% nickel.

TEX22-12 was collared 50 metres south of TEX22-10 and intersected two sections of mineralized peridotite separated by metasediments, the upper section averaging 0.23% nickel over 79.5 metres and the lower section averaging 0.21% nickel over 47.0 metres.

Canada Nickel is anchored by its 100%-owned flagship Crawford Nickel-Cobalt Sulphide Project in the heart of the prolific Timmins-Cochrane mining camp.