Québec Nickel Corp. has announced new assay results from step-out drilling completed at the Fortin Sill Zone, Ducros Project, located 80 kilometres northeast of Val-d’Or, Québec. Additionally, the Company also reports assay results from the Fortin Sill discovery outcrop channel sampling program that was completed earlier this summer.
Step-out Drilling Highlights:
- Magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE sulphides encountered in two new holes collared to the southeast of the Fortin Sill Zone discovery outcrop.
- Hole QDG-22-28 cored through a 29.90 metre interval averaging 0.30% Ni, 0.31% Cu, 167 ppm Co, and 0.45 g/t Pt-Pd-Au which includes a higher-grade subinterval containing 0.46% Ni, 0.64% Cu, 209 ppm Co and 0.72 g/t Pt-Pd-Au over 3.24 metres.
- Hole QDG-22-29 intersected a 11.80 metre interval containing 1.44% Ni, 1.49% Cu, 461 ppm Co and 2.79 g/t Pt-Pd-Au which includes a higher-grade subinterval assaying 1.85% Ni, 1.65% Cu (3.50% Ni + Cu), 576 ppm Co and 3.27 g/t Pt-Pd-Au over 8.43 metres.
- A new permit application has been delivered to the Québec Government that will allow for additional expansion drilling of the Fortin Sill Ni-Cu-Co-PGE-Au zone.
Fortin Sill Discovery Outcrop Channel Sampling Assay Highlights:
- Channel 2 results: 1.30% Ni + Cu, 179 ppm Co, 1.39 g/t Pt-Pd-Au over 13.00 metres including 1.60% Ni + Cu, 178 ppm Co, 2.02 g/t Pt-Pd-Au over 7.16 metres.
- Channel 5 results: 1.08% Ni + Cu, 207 ppm Co, 1.26 g/t Pt-Pd-Au over 14.45 metres.
Fortin Sill Zone Step-out Drilling
To follow-up to the strong assays results returned from drill holes QDG-22-09 through QDG-22-11 at the Fortin Sill target earlier this year (see news releases dated May 16 and June 6, 2022), holes QDG-22-28 and QDG-22-29 were collared approximately 35 metres to the east-southeast of QDG-22-09 and 25 metres to the southeast of the Fortin Sill discovery outcrop.
Hole QDG-22-28, a 201-metre-long hole, was drilled at 240° Azimuth and at -45° dip and cored through a greater than 43 metres interval of strongly chlorite-altered varitexture gabbro between 5.61-49.00 metres. The entire 43.39-metre-long interval contains variable amounts of finely disseminated, patchy and blebby magmatic sulphides and returned anomalous values of 0.24% Ni, 0.25% Cu, 146 ppm Co and 0.35 g/t Pt-Pd-Au (Figure 1A, Table 1). Within this broad mineralized zone are several higher-grade subintervals including 0.34% Ni, 0.43% Cu, 179 ppm Co and 0.59 g/t Pt-Pd-Au over 8.90 metres (19.10 m – 28.00 m) and 0.46% Ni, 0.64% Cu (1.10% Ni + Cu), 209 ppm Co and 0.72 g/t Pt-Pd-Au over 3.24 metres (39.00-42.24 m).
Hole QDG-22-29, a 117-metre-long hole, was drilled from the same location and at the same 240° Azimuth as QDG-22-28 but at a steeper dip angle of -65° to establish if the sulphide mineralization continues below QDG-22-28. The geology encountered in hole QDG-22-29 is similar to that seen in QDG-22-28 however the amount and nature of the nickel-copper sulphides within QDG-22-29 is dramatically different.
Between 11.67-47.30 metres depth, hole QDG-22-29 contains base and precious metal values of 0.59% Ni, 0.54% Cu, 238 ppm Co and 1.01 g/t Pt-Pd-Au over the 35.63 metre core length. This broad intersection includes a high-grade 11.80-metre-long subinterval of 1.44% Ni, 1.49% Cu, 461 ppm Co and 2.79 g/t Pt-Pd-Au from 35.50 m to 47.30 metres and an 8.43-metre-long section that contains 1.85% Ni, 1.65% Cu (3.50% Ni + Cu), 576 ppm Co and 3.27 g/t Pt-Pd-Au from 36.00 to 44.43 metres hole depth. The highest-grade Ni-Cu-PGE intervals within QDG-22-29 correspond to drill core containing up to 35-40% net-texture pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite (Figure 1B & C), and as 1-2-centimeter-wide massive sulphide veins (Figure 1D). A summary of assay results from these two drill holes is found in Table 1.
1 Reported assay intervals are sample length weighted.
2 The true width of mineralized intervals is not known due to insufficient information.
3 3E = Pt+Pd+Au
A permit application to complete additional drilling at the Fortin Sill Zone has been submitted to the Government of Québec. Once received, the new permit will allow for the creation of multiple new access trails and drilling pads adjacent to and along the interpreted strike of the Fortin Sill Zone.
Fortin Sill Zone Channel Sampling Assay Program
Results have been received for channel samples collected at the Fortin Sill discovery outcrop this past June. The work was completed to verify the results from the limited channel sampling program completed at the Fortin Sill showing by Golden Valley Mines in 2007 which returned 1.72% Ni + Cu and 2.12 g/t Pt-Pd-Au from seven samples collected from a 5.08-metre-long cut channel (refer to the Golden Valley Mines news release dated August 22, 2007).
QNI’s work in June included the collection of seventy-seven samples from five channels cut into the Fortin Sill discovery outcrop. Channels 1-3 cross the short axis of the outcrop in a NW-SE orientation and Channels 4 & 5 track along the central long axis of the outcrop in a NE-SW orientation (Figure 2). Results are summarized in Table 2 below and are highlighted by those returned from Channel 2, where a 13.00 metre interval returned 1.30% Ni + Cu, 179 ppm Co, and 1.39 g/t Pt-Pd-Au and Channel 5, which assayed 1.08% Ni + Cu, 207 ppm Co, 1.26 g/t Pt-Pd-Au over 14.45 metres. The north half of Channel 4 was cut within a few metres to the historical Golden Valley channel and returned results comparable to those published by Golden Valley.
1 Reported assay intervals are sample length weighted.
2 3E = Pt+Pd+Au
2022 Ducros Project Exploration Program Update
Year-to-date, a total of 9,000 metres in 36 drill holes have been completed at the Ducros project, all of which have been drilled at the eastern part of the property. Of these totals, approximately 800 metres have been allocated to drill testing the Fortin Gold Showing, which ocurs less than 100 metres away from the Fortin Sill Ni-Cu-PGE Zone. Assay results are still pending for this series of holes and will be released once received. The remainder of the metres have been used to drill test multiple surface geophysical anomalies generated in 2020, as part of the Phase I work plan (see QNI news release dated March 15, 2022), and as part of the Phase II work, which has focused primarily on drilling the strike extent and defining the 3D geometry of the Fortin Sill Ni-Cu-PGE Zone.
In addition to diamond drilling and channel sampling, project personnel are completing a property-wide biogeochemistry survey, the results of which will be used to refine future drill targets. To date, over 800 black spruce bark samples have been collected and submitted to ALS Global’s analytical laboratory in North Vancouver BC.
As reported in June (see June 13, 2022 news release), a 250 line-kilometre high resolution UAV (drone) magnetic survey was completed over the Fortin Sill target area. The resulting data from this survey proved to be highly beneficial for the (re)interpretation of the local geology and subsequent drill targets which then led to an additional 882 line-kilometres being flown over select targets in the western part of the Ducros property, specifically at the Ducros Ultramafic Sill Complex and Ducros Gabbro targets. A Phase III work plan has been approved by QNI management that will see another ~1,200 line-kilometres of UAV magnetics completed over other high-priority targets later this summer.
New Director Appointed to Quebec Nickel’s Board
The Company is pleased to highlight the appointment of Ms. Christine Petch to QNI’s board of directors, as formalized at QNI’s annual general and special meeting of shareholders, held on August 3, 2022. Ms. Petch replaces Michael Rosatelli on the QNI Board, who did not stand for re-election.
Ms. Petch has over 25 years of corporate, global and project experience in the mining industry with proven project management skills leading diverse, multi-cultural teams in challenging environments with strong outcomes in health & safety. Currently she is the Deputy Project Manager for Greenstone Gold Mines, where she is focused on the construction of the US$1.3 billion Greenstone Mine in Northwestern Ontario. For the last eight years, Ms. Petch has been providing fit-for-purpose project and risk management consulting services to the resources sector. Previously, she spent 19 years with Falconbridge/Xstrata/Glencore where she worked on multiple projects and held a variety of senior corporate roles within the business development, sustainability, and strategic leadership teams. Ms. Petch is credited with the discovery of the Kikialik nickel deposit at the Raglan mine in Northern Québec, which has been in operation since 1997 and is now owned by Glencore.
Ms. Petch received her B.Sc. in Geology and Geophysics from McGill University and M.Sc. in Geology from Queen’s University. She is a Professional Geoscientist in the Province of Ontario and a RIMS Certified Risk Management Professional.
In accordance with the Company’s stock option plan, Québec Nickel Corp announces the granting of 1,900,000 incentive stock options to certain directors, officers, employees, and consultants of the Company at an exercise price of $0.15. The options can be exercised for a period of two years from the date of grant and are subject to the policies of the CSE.
Core and Rock 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 surface rock samples. This program includes the regular insertion of geochemical blanks and multiple Ni-Cu-PGE-Au certified reference material standards (CRM’s) into the sample stream.
Drill core is collected by Ducros project personnel daily from the drill rig and transported to QNI’s core logging facility in Val d’Or in secured core boxes. Logging is completed on a laptop 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 saw using clean uncirculated water. 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 facility 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 nickel projects in Québec, Canada. The Company has a 100% interest in the Ducros Property, consisting of 280 contiguous mining claims covering 15,147 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.
