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FPX Nickel confirms highest grade drill results to date

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FPX Nickel [TSXV:FPX] has confirmed first-step drill hole results that show a near-surface lateral extension of strong nickel mineralisation at its Van Target, part of its Decar Nickel District in Canada’s British Columbia. The three widely spaced drill holes returned some of the strongest results in the history of the Decar district.

Drill hole 22VAN-012 intersected the highest grading broad interval of near-surface nickel mineralisation drilled to date at Van.

“We are very pleased with these first step-out drill results from Van, confirming the potential for this target to host a large-scale, standalone nickel deposit to rival the deposit already delineated at Baptiste,” said Martin Turenne, FPX Nickel President and CEO. “Based on the drill results reported to-date from the 2021 and 2022 programs, we have delineated consistently strong near-surface nickel mineralisation in drilling over an area measuring approximately 1 km long by 1 km wide, to downhole depths over 300 m.”

The Van step-out drill holes show that the strong mineralisation in previously reported outcrop samples continues to depth southwest of the zone first drilled in 2021. Nickel mineralisation at Van is the same as Baptiste, occurring as disseminated awaruite (nickel-iron alloy) and in ophiolite host rocks. It is located 6 km north of the Baptiste nickel district.

What is the Decar nickel district?

Decar hosts a greenfield discovery of nickel mineralisation in the form of a naturally occurring nickel-iron alloy called awaruite (Ni3Fe), which is amenable to bulk-tonnage, open-pit mining. Awaruite mineralisation 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 drill 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 mineralisation over wide intervals with DTR nickel grades comparable to the Baptiste Deposit.

In 2021, FPX Nickel executed an inaugural drilling program at Van which returned results comparable with the strongest results at Baptiste.

A 2020 PEA on the Baptiste Project confirmed it as one of the world’s most robust large scale nickel projects. This is based on a 35 year assumed mine life with average annual nickel production of 99m pounds and a nickel price of $7.76/lb.

Why nickel, and why now?

Nickel demand is expected to enjoy exponential growth, especially as demand from the metal mushrooms in the EV sector. Over the next three years there is forecast to be a major deficit in global nickel supply. The Baptiste Nickel Project is of massive strategic important for the US EV sector, located as it is within easy reach by train and ship for the evolving US EV battery manufacturing hubs.  The site is road accessible and has rail alignment within 5km of the site. It also has access to deep water ports at Prince Rupert and Vancouver.

Earlier this month FPX Nickel closed a private placement deal with a new corporate strategic investor. It issued 24m common shares at 50 cents Canadian for gross proceeds of CAD 12m. This provides the investor with 9.95% of the FPX Nickel issued common shares capital.

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This article does not constitute investment advice. Do your own research or consult a professional advisor.

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