SPC Nickel drills 1.27% nickel over 18 metres at West Graham, Ontario

SPC Nickel Corp. [SPC-TSXV] reported assay results from the West Graham project, located in the world-class nickel-copper mining district of Sudbury, Ontario.

SPC Nickel released the results from the first 13 holes of 30 from the continuing phase 2 drill program. The phase 2 program is well under way, with over 6,748 metres already completed, and continues to confirm and extend historic mineralization at expected or better grades while discovering new high-grade mineralization. The program is on track to provide the data required to complete an updated global resource estimate for the West Graham project by the end of 2023.

Highlights – Hole WG-23-047 intersected a high-grade section that returned 1.27% nickel and 0.47% copper over 18 metres from 245 to 263 metres within a thick zone of nickel and copper mineralization grading 0.70% nickel and 0.32% copper over 50 metres from 221 to 271 metres. Length refers to downhole length.

A total of 12,086 metres in 57 holes have so far been completed on the West Graham project since drilling commenced in early March. The phase 1 program consisted of 5,338 metres in 27 holes and was completed in late May while a total of 6,748 metres in 30 holes have been completed from the continuing phase 2 program.

Assay results from a total of 40 holes completed as part of the phase 1 and 2 programs have been received and significant results are presented herein. Samples from the remaining 17 completed holes are being processed and will be reported when available.

Grant Mourre, CEO and president, commented: “We are very pleased with the excellent results we have so far received from our phase 2 drill program. The drill program successfully demonstrates the robust upside potential at West Graham, where we have not yet reached the limit of the strike and depth continuity of the main mineralized zone. While the recently completed ground EM survey has the potential to identify new targets within a sparsely tested footwall environment, we’re looking forward to announcing additional drilling result and a maiden mineral resource estimate for the combined deposits in 2023.”

The company also completed a 6.5-line-km, ground electromagnetic (EM) survey covering a large portion of the property. This survey represents the first ground EM survey to date completed on the property. The objectives of the survey are to test the contact of Sudbury igneous complex (SIC) west of the continuing phase 1 and 2 drilling as well as to evaluate the potential of the related footwall to host economic sulphide mineralization similar to what is observed at other Sudbury mines.

The company received an Ontario Junior Exploration Program (OJEP) grant from the Ontario government to support its continuing exploration efforts. Through the OJEP program, SPC Nickel has been selected to receive up to $200,000 to cover 50% of eligible explorations costs on the project, aimed at facilitating the exploration of critical minerals within Ontario. The receipt of grant funding represents a meaningful milestone, leveraging government support toward advancing the exploration of this high-quality magmatic nickel project.

On January 23, 2023, SPC Nickel nanounced the signing of an agreement with Vale Canada granting SPC Nickel the right to earn a 100% interest in Vale’s Crean Hill 3 property located adjacent to SPC’s West Graham property.

As an advanced project, the combination of the West Graham and Crean Hill 3 assets is a transformational opportunity for SPC Nickel. The historical mineral resources on these properties form one contiguous near-surface deposit and consists of the following: Crean Hill 3 hosts a historic mineral estimate of 16.78 million tonnes at 0.43% nickel and 0.30% copper.

West Graham hosts a historic indicated mineral resource of 8.55 Mt at 0.45% nickel and 0.31% copper along with an inferred mineral resource of two Mt at 0.38% nickel and 0.30% copper.

SPC Nickel considers the West Graham and Crean Hill 3 resource estimates to be historical mineral estimates for purposes of NI 43-101 standards.

SPC Nickel is currently exploring its key 100%-owned exploration project, Lockerby East, located in the heart of the historic Sudbury mining camp that includes the West Graham resource and the Crean Hill 3 property under option from Vale. SPC Nickel also holds three additional projects across Canada including the large camp-scale Muskox project (located in Nunavut), the past-producing Aer-Kidd project (located in the Sudbury mining camp) and the Janes project (located 50 km northwest of Sudbury).