VANCOUVER, BC, May 24, 2022
/CNW/ - FPX Nickel Corp. (TSXV: FPX) ("FPX" or the
"Company") is pleased to provide an overview of our planned
2022 exploration drilling program at the Company's Decar Nickel
District ("Decar") in central British Columbia. This year's drilling will
focus on expansion of mineralization at the Van Target, where an
initial drilling program in 2021 confirmed a major new discovery
and suggested the potential for Van to host a large-scale,
standalone nickel deposit which could rival the deposit already
delineated at Decar's Baptiste Deposit.
Highlights
- Widely-spaced, 8-10 hole program to step-out up to 1 km south,
southwest and west of 2021 discovery holes
- 2021 Van holes defined a large zone of strong awaruite nickel
mineralization approximately 400 to 750
m wide and up to 750 m long,
to downhole depths of up to 350 m,
with these results comparing favourably to the mineralized area
defined by outcrop sampling and subsequent drilling at
Baptiste
- 2022 program to follow the trend of increasing grade and
thickness to the south and west as observed in drill sections from
the 2021 program, and to test strong Davis Tube Recoverable
("DTR") nickel occurrences in outcrops to the southwest
"We are very excited to test the expansion of the new discovery
at Van, where the first seven holes in 2021 all returned broad
intervals of strong awaruite nickel mineralization," commented
Martin Turenne, the Company's
President and CEO. "The 2021 campaign tested less than 50% of the
2.5 km2 target area, which had been initially defined by
outcrop samples. This year's program will test the western
half of the outcrop-defined target area, and probe the expansion of
mineralization to the south of the 2021 holes, in an
overburden-covered zone where no outcrop is available."
Step-out exploration drilling at the Van Target is planned to
build on the successful 2021 maiden exploration drilling results.
This year's program will comprise approximately 3,000 metres of
drilling over 8-10 holes, stepping out meaningfully to the south,
southwest and west of the holes drilled in 2021.
This year's hole locations are informed by the 2021 drill
results, ground magnetics, regional magnetics, outcrop mapping,
outcrop samples, and preliminary geological modelling of the target
area. The planned holes will focus on exploration to the south,
southwest, and west of the 2021 holes, as indicated in Areas 1 and
2 of Figure 2, respectively.
Area 1, which extends up to 500 m
south of the 2021 holes, has been selected to follow the trend of
increasing grade and thickness to the south as observed in sections
drilled during the 2021 program. Area 2, which extends up to
1 km west of the 2021 holes, has been selected to similarly follow
the trend of increasing grade and thickness along strike to the
west, as well as strong DTR nickel occurrences in outcrops to the
southwest.
Drilling at Van is expected to occur over an approximate
six-week period commencing in late June, and will be based on a
combination of skid- and helicopter-supported setups.
In 2021, the Company executed a maiden nine-hole, 2,688 m drill program at the Van Target, which is
located 6 km north of Baptiste at a similar elevation, and
accessible via active logging roads. Maiden drilling at Van
tested the sub-surface potential for mineralization below and
adjacent to prospective mineralized outcrop, which had defined a
target area of approximately 2.5 km2. The size of
the Van Target as defined by this outcrop sampling is comparable to
the Baptiste deposit, which measures 3 km along strike with widths
of up to 1 km.
The three southernmost of the Van holes (21VAN-002, 21VAN-003
and 21VAN-005) returned among the 10 highest-grading,
near-surface intervals in the history of Decar, suggesting that Van
has strong potential to host a higher-grade, near-surface resource
than that found at Baptiste, where the majority of higher-grade
mineralization occurs at depth. For a complete description of
2021's successful maiden exploration drilling program at the Van
Target, see the Company's news release dated January 6th, 2022.
Erin Wilson, P. Geo., FPX
Nickel's Qualified Person under NI 43-101, has reviewed and
approved the technical content of this news release.
About the Decar Nickel
District
The Company's Decar Nickel District claims cover 245
km2 of the Mount Sidney Williams ultramafic/ophiolite
complex, 90 km northwest of Fort St.
James in central British
Columbia. The district is a two-hour drive from Fort St. James on a high-speed logging
road.
Decar hosts a greenfield discovery of nickel mineralization in
the form of a naturally occurring nickel-iron alloy called awaruite
(Ni3Fe), which is amenable to bulk-tonnage, open-pit
mining. Awaruite mineralization has been identified in four target
areas within this ophiolite complex, being the Baptiste Deposit,
and the B, Sid and Van targets, as confirmed by drilling,
petrographic examination, electron probe analyses and outcrop
sampling on all four targets. Since 2010, approximately US
$28 million has been spent on the
exploration and development of Decar.
Of the four targets in the Decar Nickel District, the Baptiste
Deposit, which was initially the most accessible and had the
biggest known surface footprint, has been the focus of diamond
drilling since 2010, with a total of 99 holes and 33,700 m of drilling completed. The Sid
target was tested with two holes in 2010 and the B target had a
single hole drilled in 2011; all three holes intersected
nickel-iron alloy mineralization over wide intervals with DTR
nickel grades comparable to the Baptiste Deposit. The Van
target was not drill-tested at that time as bedrock exposures in
the area were very poor prior to more recent logging
activity. In 2021, the Company executed a maiden drilling
program at Van, which has returned promising results comparable
with the strongest results at Baptiste.
About FPX Nickel Corp.
FPX Nickel Corp. is focused on the exploration and development
of the Decar Nickel District, located in central British Columbia, and other occurrences of the
same unique style of naturally occurring nickel-iron alloy
mineralization known as awaruite. For more information, please view
the Company's website at www.fpxnickel.com or contact
Martin Turenne, President and CEO,
at (604) 681-8600 or ceo@fpxnickel.com.
On behalf of FPX Nickel Corp.
"Martin Turenne"
Martin Turenne, President, CEO and
Director
Forward-Looking
Statements
Certain of the statements made and information contained
herein is considered "forward-looking information" within the
meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. These statements
address future events and conditions and so involve inherent risks
and uncertainties, as disclosed in the Company's periodic filings
with Canadian securities regulators. Actual results could differ
from those currently projected. The Company does not assume the
obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this release.
SOURCE FPX Nickel Corp.