Quebec Nickel drills 1.27% nickel over one metre at Ducros, Quebec

Quebec Nickel Corp. [QNI-CSE; QNICF-OTCQB; 71B-FSE] reported new drilling assay results from its Ducros nickel-copper-platinum group element (Ni-Cu-PGE) project, located 80 km northeast of Val d’Or, Quebec. These results come from exploration drilling completed at the Fortin Sill zone in late 2022 and suggest the critical metals-rich (Cu-Ni-PGE) zone is open at depth and along strike.

Highlights: Hole QDG-22-63 returned a 4.9-metre-long drill intercept averaging 0.77% nickel, 0.56% copper, 340 parts per million (ppm) cobalt and 0.80 g/t platinum-palladium-gold (Pt-Pd-Au), which includes a higher-grade 3-metre-long subinterval of 1.06% nickel, 0.77% copper, 447 ppm cobalt and 1.09 g/t Pt-Pd-Au.

Individual one m long samples from the reported intersection returned up to 1.27% nickel, 1.21% copper, 559 ppm cobalt and 1.46 g/t Pt-Pd-Au.

The drill intercept occurs approximately 60 metres below and 55 metres to the southwest of the known extents of the Fortin Sill zone, and suggests the zone is open both at depth and along strike.

Assay results from five additional holes completed from the same drill pad as QDG-22-63 are pending. Follow-up exploration, expansion, and definition drilling are planned for this winter and spring at the Fortin sill zone.

Fortin sill zone drilling results: Hole QDG-22-63 was completed in late 2022 in response to anomalous Ni-Cu-PGE results (all critical metals) returned from hole QDG-22-38, which was collared on the northeast side of the Fortin sill zone discovery outcrop and drilled toward the southwest under the mineralized bedrock exposure. Hole QDG-22-38 returned anomalous nickel, copper and PGE values well below and to the southwest, potentially down plunge, of the Fortin sill zone.

The 4.90-mietre long mineralized interval cut by QDG-22-63 begins at 109.1 metres downhole depth and returned 0.77% nickel, 0.56% copper, 340 ppm cobalt and 0.80 g/t Pt-Pd-Au, and includes a higher-grade three m subinterval of 1.06% nickel, 0.77% copper, 447 ppm cobalt and 1.08 g/t Pt-Pd-Au. A one-metre sample within this interval assayed 1.27% nickel, 1.21% copper, 559 ppm cobalt and 1.46 g/t Pt-Pd-Au. Assay results for holes QDG-22-60, QDG-22-61, QDG-22-62, and QDG-22-64 through QDG-22-66, which were all collared from the same drill pad as QDG-22-63, are pending.

The occurrence of high-grade nickel-copper-PGE sulphides at depth of the at-surface Fortin sill zone warrants follow-up drilling and, as such, several additional holes will be completed during the 2023 exploration program to evaluate the potential size and extent of this new target and/or potential extension of the Fortin sill zone. In addition, the new drilling will also test the updated geological model for the emplacement of the mineralized Fortin sill intrusion.

In addition to the assay results from hole QDG-22-63, anomalous Ni-Cu-Co-PGE-Au values from holes QDG-22-33 and QDG-22-34 are also reported herein. These two holes were collared within 50 metres of the Fortin sill zone mineralized outcrop exposure and intercepted long core intervals of anomalous Ni-Cu-Co-PGE-Au mineralization starting at surface.

The company’s 2023 winter exploration activities kicked off on Jan. 20, with the start of its planned approximately 20,000 m drilling program at the northern portion of the Ducros ultramafic sill complex (DUSC). This year’s drilling program will test numerous coincident geophysical (electromagnetic, magnetic and gravity anomalies) and geological targets at the DUSC and Ducros gabbro target areas. Drilling is planned to resume at the Fortin sill zone later this winter and spring.

In addition to the continuing drilling program, approximately 600 line-km of additional high-resolution drone-based magnetic surveys have been completed this winter that cover selected targets in the central and southwestern portions of the Ducros property. These new geophysical data will be incorporated into the project database, and will help guide and refine the continuing exploration work.

The company also announces the successful relocation of its base of field operations and core processing facilities from Val d’Or to the town of Lebel-sur-Quevillon. The new office space, core shack and core sawing facilities in Lebel-sur-Quevillon are less than a 30-minute drive from the Ducros property, allowing for significantly improved work efficiencies and overall safety of project personnel and contractors.

Quebec Nickel has a 100% interest in the Ducros property, consisting of 282 contiguous mining claims covering 15,293 hectares within the eastern portion of the Abitibi greenstone belt in Quebec.