Vancouver, British Columbia, March 1, 2023 – Québec Nickel Corp. (CSE: QNI; FSE: 7lB; OTCQB: QNICF) (“QNI” or the “Company“) is pleased to report new drilling assay results from its Ducros Ni-Cu-PGE Project, located 80 kilometres northeast of Val-d’Or, Québec. 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 4.90-metre-long drill intercept averaging 0.77% Ni, 0.56% Cu, 340 ppm Co and 0.80 g/t Pt-Pd-Au which includes a higher grade three-metre-long subinterval of 1.06% Ni, 0.77% Cu, 447 ppm Co and 1.09 g/t Pt-Pd-Au.
- Individual one-metre-long samples from the reported intersection returned up to 1.27% Ni, 1.21% Cu, 559 ppm Co 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 towards the southwest under the mineralized bedrock exposure (Figure 1). 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 geology and mineralization encountered in hole QDG-22-38 are summarized in the Company’s October 19, 2022 news release for reference. Later during the same drilling program, hole QDG-22-63 was collared to the southwest of the Fortin Sill discovery outcrop and drill towards 105° Azimuth at a -75° dip from an existing permitted drill pad to follow-up on the results from hole QDG-22-38.
The 4.90-metre-long mineralized interval cut by QDG-22-63 begins at 109.10 metres downhole depth and returned 0.77% Ni, 0.56% Cu, 340 ppm Co and 0.80 g/t Pt-Pd-Au and includes a higher-grade three metre sub-interval of 1.06% Ni, 0.77% Cu, 447 ppm Co and 1.08 g/t Pt-Pd-Au. A one-metre sample within this interval assayed 1.27% Ni, 1.21% Cu, 559 ppm Co and 1.46 g/t Pt-Pd-Au (see Table 1 for details). The entire mineralized interval is characterized by the presence of heavily disseminated to net texture pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite with frequent multi centimeter to decimeter-wide semi-massive to massive sulphide veins, stringers, and clasts within a variably chlorite-altered and moderately to strongly foliated pyroxenite to gabbronorite host rock. 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 (Figures 1 & 2).
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, as discussed in the Company’s December 15, 2022 news release.
The occurrence of strongly anomalous to high-grade Ni-Cu-Co-PGE-Au mineralization in multiple drill holes at depth and potentially down plunge from the Fortin Sill Zone reinforces the potential for discovering additional Ni-Cu-Co-PGE-Au sulphide mineralization in the immediate area as well as throughout the greater Project area.
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 (Table 1, Figures 1 & 2). 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 (Table 1).
Figure 1. Plan map showing the locations of selected drill holes completed at the Fortin Sill Zone with Ni + Cu assays (%) in relation to the outline of the Fortin Sill discovery outcrop. Drill holes with new assay results reported herein are highlighted in orange. 
Figure 2. Drill section looking 330° azimuth (75 metres thick) showing the locations of selected holes completed at the Fortin Sill Zone during the 2022 drilling program in relation to the Fortin Sill Zone discovery outcrop. Drill holes with assay data reported in this news release are highlighted in orange text. 
Table 1. Summary assay results for holes QDG-22-33, QDG-22-34 and QDG-22-631,2,3
1Reported assay intervals are sample length weighted.
2The true width of mineralized intervals is not known due to insufficient information.
33E = Pt+Pd+Au
2023 Exploration Program
As previously announced, the Company’s 2023 winter exploration activities kicked-off on January 20th with the start of its planned ~20,000 metre drilling program at the northern portion of the Ducros Ultramafic Sill Complex (DUSC) (see January 17, 2023 News Release). 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 ongoing drilling program, approximately 600 line-kilometers 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 ongoing 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-Quévillon. The new office space, core shack and core sawing facilities in Lebel-sur-Quévillon 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.
PDAC 2023
Company representatives will be attending the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada conference (PDAC) on March 5-8, 2023, in Toronto, Canada. Conference attendees are invited to visit the QNI booth (#3250) during the four-day event to examine some of the high-grade Ni-Cu-PGE core drilled at the Fortin Sill Zone in 2022 and to discuss the Company’s exploration plans for 2023.
Core Processing & QAQC
Québec Nickel has implemented a quality assurance and quality control (“QAQC”) program for its Ducros Project to ensure best practices for logging, sampling and analysis of its drill core as well as for the collection and analyses of rock samples. This includes the regular insertion of geochemical blanks, duplicates and multiple Ni-Cu-PGE-Au certified reference material standards (CRMs) into the sample stream.
Drill core is collected by Ducros Project personnel daily from the drill rigs and transported in secured core boxes to QNI’s core logging facilities in Lebel-sur-Quévillon. Logging is completed on laptops and data are captured using fit-for-purpose computer software.
Core destined for geochemical analyses is identified and labeled by core logging geologists and is then sawed in half by a diamond blade. One half of the NQ-diameter core sample is placed in a labeled and secured sample bag. The remaining half of the core sample is returned to its core box for archiving. All core samples are transported from QNI’s logging facilities to AGAT Laboratories’ sample preparation facility in Val-d’Or in secured and numbered rice bags by Project personnel.
AGAT Laboratories is accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and ISO 9001:2015 standards. Analysis for precious metals (gold, platinum, and palladium) is completed by Fire Assay with an ICP-OES finish while analyses for nickel, copper and 41 other elements are performed using AGAT’s 4 Acid Digest – Metals Package, with an ICP-OES finish.
QUALIFIED PERSON
Gary DeSchutter, M.Sc., P.Geo., Vice-President of Exploration for Québec Nickel Corp., and a Qualified Person (“QP”) as defined under National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”), has reviewed, and approved the scientific and technical content of this press release.
ABOUT QUEBEC NICKEL CORP.
Québec Nickel Corp. is a mineral exploration company focused on acquiring, exploring, and developing critical metals (Ni-Cu-Co-PGE) projects in Québec, Canada. The Company 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 Québec, Canada. Additional information about Québec Nickel Corp. is available at www.quebecnickel.com.
The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the CSE nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
David Patterson
Chief Executive Officer and Director
1 (855) 764-2535 (QNICKEL)
info@quebecnickel.com.web2.sogetel.net
CAUTIONARY AND FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements”. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “intends,” “estimates,” “projects,” “potential” and similar expressions, or that events or conditions “will,” “would,” “may,” “could” or “should” occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market, or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that such statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates, and opinions of the Company’s management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management’s beliefs, estimates, opinions, or other factors should change.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2023