Quebec Nickel drills 0.44% nickel over 18.5 metres at Ducros, Quebec

Quebec Nickel Corp. [QNI-CSE] reported nickel/copper/platinum group element/gold drilling assay results from its 100%-owned Ducros property, 80 km northeast of Val d’Or, Quebec. Drill hole QDG-22-09, which was collared at the Fortin Sill target in the eastern part of the Ducros property, was completed to validate the results returned from the 2008 Golden Valley Mines Ltd. hole GCF-08-07.

Hole QDG-22-09 returned a 31 metres-wide intercept averaging 0.37% nickel, 0.40% copper and 0.55 g/t platinum-palladium-gold (Pt-Pd-Au) from 10.00 to 41.00 metres hole depth. Included within this 31-metre intercept, are higher grade sub-intervals including 0.44% nickel, 0.51% copper and 0.69 g/t Pt-Pd-Au over 18.50 and 0.55% nickel, 0.86% copper and 0.86 g/t Pt-Pd-Au over 5.0 metres.

The near-surface 18.50 metres-long sub-interval, which returned 0.44% nickel, 0.51% copper and 0.69 g/t Pt-Pd-Au, improves upon the overall grade intersected in the lone historical hole completed at the Fortin Sill target in 2008.

A 0.50-metre sample of semi-massive to net texture sulphides contains 1.31% nickel, 0.38% copper and 2.12 g/t Pt-Pd-Au. The VTEMTM electromagnetic-magnetic anomaly interpreted to lie beneath the Fortin Sill showing has yet to be drilled.

Gary DeSchutter, Vice President of Exploration, remarked, “I am very fortunate to have worked at several high-quality nickel projects during my career, including at a producing PGE mine, and I can honestly say receiving assay results like these from the Fortin Sill target is very exciting. I’m really looking forward to seeing what else the Fortin Sill target, as well as the rest of this great project, delivers in the coming weeks and months.”

Results from hole QDG-22-09 confirm and improve upon those from the 2008 Golden Valley drill hole which returned 0.38% nickel, 0.44% copper and 0.65 g/t Pt-Pd-Au over a core interval of 20.7 metres. The 31-metre-long mineralized intersection from QDG-22-09 represents a greater than 45% increase in intercept length compared to the 2008 Golden Valley hole.

In addition, the Ni-Cu-PGE-Au grades within 18.50-metre-long sub-interval in QDG-22-09 are almost 20% higher than those from the 2008 hole. From the current drill hole, a 0.50-metre-long sample collected at 15.50-16.00 metres, which includes pyrrhotite-dominated semi-massive and next texture sulphides, returns 1.31% nickel, 0.38% copper and 2.12 g/t Pt-Pd-Au. Of note, the 2008 hole did not encounter any semi-massive to net texture sulphides, or the corresponding higher-grade results, as is the case for QDG-22-09.

Hole QDG-22-09 was collared several metres to the southwest of the stripped bedrock exposure of the Fortin Sill showing, drilled at a 45Ëš azimuth and at a -45Ëš dip. The drill collar for the original Golden Valley drill hole completed in 2008, GCF-08-07, has not been located since the casing was not left in the BQ diameter hole, but it assumed QDG-22-09 is located within 25 metres to the southwest of the historical hole based on the GPS coordinates provided in the Golden Valley drill log. The Golden Valley assessment report indicates GCF-08-07 was drilled at a 45Ëš azimuth and at a -45Ëš dip, so it is therefore assumed the trace of QDG-22-09 undercuts the historical hole by +/- 25 metres.

Additional holes are being drilled from the same set-up as QDG-22-09 to establish the continuity of the Ni-Cu-PGE-Au mineralization both on and off drill section and assay results will be reported from these holes once received. A drill hole to test the VTEMTM electromagnetic-magnetic anomaly, interpreted to lie directly beneath the Fortin Sill showing, will also be completed in the coming weeks. Additionally, Abitibi Geophysics is  completing time domain borehole electromagnetic surveys within several of the key drill holes completed during the 2022 work program. This borehole EM work is being done to follow-up on the semi-massive sulphide intersection in QDG-22-09 as well as to guide future drilling efforts towards finding additional accumulations of electrically conductive Ni-Cu-PGE-Au-rich sulphides in the Fortin Sill target area.

Additional drill holes are being designed to follow-up on these results and will be submitted for permitting.