Québec Nickel Corp. (CSE: QNI) (OTCQB: QNICF) reported 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.
Summary
- New Fortin Sill drill results confirm high grade nickel deposits (up to 1.27% Ni)
- Expands high grade zone at Fortin Sill by at least 60 metres below and to the southwest
- Five more assay results pending
- 200 metres of drilling in 2023, 2x 2022
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).
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.
