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Toronto, Ontario March 17, 2026 TheNewswire - Homeland Nickel Inc. ("Homeland" or the "Company") (TSX-V: SHL, OTC: SRCGF), is pleased to announce the appointment of Jeffrey Strobel as CEO of Patriot Nickel. Jeff is an experienced mining executive and former military officer. Homeland continues to consolidate nickel laterite properties in Southern Oregon with the acquisition of Rough and Ready.
Commenting on the Patriot appointment, Homeland President and CEO Steve Balch said, "We are very impressed with the high level of talent Patriot Nickel has attracted and we look forward to working closely with Jeff to advance our properties."
Patriot Nickel has optioned Homeland Nickel's Cleopatra and Eight Dollar Mountain nickel laterite properties subject to certain cash payments and exploration commitments. Upon completion of a pre-feasibility study, Patriot will own 80% of the properties and Homeland will retain 20%. Homeland will also acquire 20% of the common shares of Patriot upon an Initial Public Offering (IPO).
Homeland has completed the acquisition of Woodcock Mountain and has signed an agreement to acquire the Rough and Ready property located less than 4 km northwest of O'Brien, Oregon off Highway 199.
Commenting on Rough and Ready, Steve Balch said "The property covers 640 acres of previously outlined nickel laterite with historical assays up to 2.0% nickel, with grade intervals from auger holes up to 1.58% nickel over 6 feet at surface and excavations of laterite in places to a depth of 40 vertical feet. For Woodcock Mountain, we have completed all payments and the mining claims have been transferred to Homeland. We will continue to acquire the best nickel laterite assets in Southern Oregon as we consolidate these resources."
On the Cleopatra Property, the Forest Service has approved the Surface Use Determination portion of the Plan of Operation and is proceeding with an environmental review. Homeland is preparing for a summer 2026 exploration program at Cleopatra, Red Flat, Woodcock Mountain, Josephine Creek, and Eight Dollar Mountain. While the Forest Service will conduct an environmental review on Cleopatra and Red Flat, Homeland will conduct its own review on the remaining properties listed above.
About Jeffrey Strobel
Jeff Strobel is a seasoned mining executive with direct operational experience with over 20 years of experience in mining. He began his career as a U.S. Navy officer flying F-14 Tomcats and served as an officer in electronic warfare, weapons and electrical engineering. Jeff has specialized in corporate turnarounds and restructuring, notably leading Inmet Mining (now Bluegrass Natural Resources) through a successful Chapter 11 reorganization. As CEO of Atlantic Carbon Group, Jeff oversaw the doubling of coal production and processing, leading ACG to profitability. He also served as VP of Business Development and Strategy for Arch Resources, managing over $1 billion in transactions. Currently, Mr. Strobel is based in Missouri and advises Javelin Global Commodities on international mining evaluations. Jeff is a graduate of Columbia Business School.
About the Rough and Ready Property
The Rough and Ready Property is located 4 km west of the small town of O'Brien in Southern Oregon and is accessed by local roads and trails (see Figure 1 for a map of all Homeland properties).
The geology at Rough and Ready consists of significant nickel laterite overlying a partly serpentinized peridotite of the Josephine ultramafic suite, the same geology hosting the historic Riddle Mine, America's largest ever nickel mine. The best laterite is developed along ridge-tops and benches, but laterite has been mapped across the entire mountain from 1,560 feet to 3,900 feet elevation.
Nickel exploration began at Rough and Ready in the 1950s. From 1968-1970 Cominco-American Inc. conducted trenching, augering and churn drilling. Inspiration Development Company was active during 1973-1978 with drilling, backhoe sampling and seismic surveys to estimate the depth of the laterite. In 1977 the U.S. Bureau of Mines conducted extensive backhoe sampling.
The historical work at Rough and Ready identified zones having an average grade of 1.0% nickel such as Parker and South Flank and proved the laterite is up to 40 feet thick in some areas. Highlights from previous augering included 1.58% nickel, 0.10% cobalt and 2.44% chromite over 4 feet from surface in AIG-78 and 1.45% nickel, and 2.24% chromite over 5 feet starting 1 foot below surface in AIG-64. These intersections are located hundreds of metres apart.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Stephen Balch, President & CEO
Phone:Â Â Â Â 905-407-9586
Email:Â Â Â Â steve@beci.ca
ÂQualified Person
Stephen J. Balch, P.Geo. (ON), the Company's President and CEO and a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
References
Tognotti, K., Lederer, G., Parol, A., Marsh, E., and Foster, A., 2025, Historical nickel laterite regions and assay samples in southern Oregon and northern California, USA: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P13J2ITX.
Ramp, L., 1978, Investigations of Nickel in Oregon: Miscellaneous Paper 20, State of Oregon, Department of Geology and Mineral Industries.
About Homeland Nickel
ÂHomeland Nickel is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company focused on critical metal resources with nine nickel projects in Oregon, United States and copper and gold projects in Newfoundland, Canada. The Company holds a significant portfolio of mining securities including 442 thousand shares of Canada Nickel Company Inc. (TSX-V: CNC), 9.960 million shares of Noble Mineral Exploration Inc. (TSX-V: NOB), 11.447 million shares of Benton Resources Inc. (TSX-V: BEX), 81,150 shares of Vinland Lithium Inc. (TSX-V: VLD) and 2.761 million shares of Magna Terra Minerals Inc. (TSX-V: MTT). Homeland Nickel's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "SHL". More detailed information can be found on the Company's website at:
http://www.homelandnickel.comÂ
Cautionary Statement
This news release may contain assumptions, estimates, and other forward-looking statements regarding future events. Such forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and are subject to factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control that may cause actual results or performance to differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.
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Figure 1. Location map showing Homeland's nickel laterite properties.
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