Québec Nickel Corp. Intersects 0.44% Ni, 0.51% Cu and 0.69 G/t Pt-Pd-Au Over 18.50 m at Its Ducros Project
Continuity drilling of the Fortin Sill Ni-Cu-PGE-Au zone initiatedVancouver, May 16, 2022 - Québec Nickel Corp. (CSE: QNI) (FSE: 7lB) (OTCQB: QNICF) (or the "Company") is pleased to report nickel-copper-PGE-gold drilling assay results from its Ducros Property, 80 kilometres northeast of Val-d'Or, Québec. 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% Ni, 0.40% Cu and 0.55 g/t 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% Ni, 0.51% Cu and 0.69 g/t Pt-Pd-Au over 18.50 and 0.55% Ni, 0.86% Cu and 0.86 g/t Pt-Pd-Au over 5.0 metres.
Highlights:
- The near-surface 18.50 metres-long sub-interval, which returned 0.44% Ni, 0.51% Cu 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% Ni, 0.38% Cu 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, Québec Nickel's Vice President of Exploration, remarks, "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% Ni, 0.44% Cu and 0.65 g/t Pt-Pd-Au over a core interval of 20.7 metres (Québec Assessment report GM65886). 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% Ni, 0.38% Cu and 2.12 g/t Pt-Pd-Au (sample E947199, Figure 2). 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.
The initial geological interpretation of the Fortin Sill showing is that of a Ni-Cu-Pt-Pd-Au-mineralized differentiated mafic-ultramafic intrusion. This interpretation is supported by observations that the contacts between the different mafic and ultramafic rock units are gradational in nature, as well as the occurrence of brecciated contacts between the mineralized intrusion and host mafic volcanic +/- metasedimentary country rocks. Summary assays results are provided below in Table 1 and photographs of drill core from QDG-22-09 are presented in Figures 1 and 2.
Sulphide mineralization throughout the 31-metre-long core intersection, which is interpreted to be of primary magmatic in origin, consists of sub-metre to multi-metre-wide zones of interstitial, finely disseminated to patchy magmatic sulphides with subordinate intervals of semi-massive to net-texture sulphides (pyrrhotite + chalcopyrite) intercalated with multi-metre-long intervals containing coarse to very coarse blebby pyrrhotite + chalcopyrite. Host rocks to the sulphide mineralization include mafic and ultramafic intrusive units including gabbro, olivine-bearing gabbro and pyroxenite, with the pyroxenite units having undergone significant greenschist metamorphism-related alteration, essentially turning the rock into a chlorite schist. Further down the hole beyond the Ni-Cu-PGE-mineralized intrusion, the remainder of the 225-metre-long drill hole cored through a mixed sequence of intercalated sheared mafic volcanic and metasedimentary rocks before terminating in a >23-metre-long interval of strongly sheared and quartz-carbonate-veined ultramafic unit that contains trace to locally 1% finely disseminated pyrite + pyrrhotite. The entire length of the hole has been sampled; however, assay results have only been received for the top 79 metres of the hole.
Hole QDG-22-09 was collared several metres to the southwest of the stripped bedrock exposure of the Fortin Sill showing, drilled at a 45° azimuth and at a -45° 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 (Québec Assessment report GM65886). The Golden Valley assessment report indicates GCF-08-07 was drilled at a 45° azimuth and at a -45° dip, so it is therefore assumed the trace of QDG-22-09 undercuts the historical hole by +/- 25 metres.
Figure 1. Photographs of drill core from hole QDG-22-09. A - A 50 cm long piece of NQ diameter drill core showing large sulphide blebs (pyrrhotite + chalcopyrite) in strongly chlorite-altered pyroxenite (from 21.50-22.00 metres); B - photograph of sawed NQ core at 19.55 metre hole depth showing the chalcopyrite-rich nature of some of the coarse composite sulphide blebs (field of view across the bottom of the photograph is approximately 5 centimetres; Po = pyrrhotite, Cp = chalcopyrite); and C - blebby to patchy and disseminated sulphides in pyroxenite (sawed NQ diameter core; top row photograph centered at 33.40 metres depth, middle row centered at 38.70 metres depth and bottom row centered at 40.75 metres depth).
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Figure 2. Photograph of semi-massive to net-texture sulphides from core sample E947199, centred at approximately 15.75 metres hole depth. The 50 cm sample returned 1.31% Ni, 0.38% Cu and 2.12 g/t Pt-Pd-Au.
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Table 1. Summary of assay results from hole QDG-22-091,2,3
1Reported assay intervals are sample length weighted.
2The true width of the mineralized intersection is not known due to insufficient information.
33E = Pt+Pd+Au
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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 (please refer to the April 27, 2022, News Release for details regarding this specific geophysical drill target). Additionally, Abitibi Geophysics, who's head office is in Val-d'Or, is currently at the Ducros project completing time domain borehole electromagnetic surveys within several of the key drill holes completed during the 2022 work program to date. 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 in the coming days.
Core Processing & QAQC
Québec Nickel has implemented a quality assurance and quality control ("QAQC") program for its drilling program, to ensure best practice for logging, sampling, and analysis of its drill core, and includes the regular insertion of geochemical blanks and two different Ni-Cu-PGE certified reference material standards (CRM's) into the sample stream.
Drill core is collected by Ducros project personnel from the drill daily 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. In addition to recording geological, structural, mineralogical, and alteration data, QNI personnel also collect Rock Quality Designation (RQD) data for all core runs, as well as Specific Gravity, Magnetic Susceptibility and Conductivity measurements at regular intervals. All drill core is photographed both dry and wet prior to sampling.
Core sample lengths typically vary between 30 centimetres to 1.50 metres, dependant on geological and mineralization contacts. Core destined for geochemical analyses is sawed in half by a diamond blade saw with clean uncirculated water, and one half of the core is returned to the core box for archiving while the other half is placed in labeled and sealed sample bags and sent to the laboratory for analyses. All 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 on 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
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.