Nickel sulphide and battery metals explorer Nordic Nickel Limited (ASX: NNL; Nordic, or the Company) is pleased to announce an updated in-situ JORC (2012) Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Hotinvaara Prospect (Hotinvaara) at its flagship, 100%-owned Pulju Nickel Project (Pulju, or the Project) in Finland following an extensive drilling campaign in 2023.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) completed for the Hotinvaara Prospect:
  • MRE increased to 418Mt @ 0.21% Ni, 0.01% Co and 53ppm Cu for 862,800t of contained Ni, 40,000t of contained Co and 22,100t of contained Cu;
  • Indicated Resource now 42Mt @ 0.22% Ni, for 92,700t of contained Ni;
  • Inferred Resource of 376Mt @ 0.21% Ni, for 770,100t of contained Ni.
• A substantial portion of the updated MRE is located within 250m of surface, including 90,338t of contained Ni in the Indicated category and 368,750t as Inferred.
• The Company’s 28 holes drilled during 2023 have more than tripled the in-situ contained nickel estimate and the updated MRE now exceeds the upper end of the Company’s previously published Exploration Target.¹
• Previously reported test work indicated 83-94% of the total nickel is in sulphides, with excellent liberation characteristics.
• Detailed metallurgical test work program is now underway.
• Revised, in-situ MRE demonstrates that the Hotinvaara Prospect represents a fertile ultramafic system that hosts extensive disseminated nickel sulphides that continue well beyond the current exploration area.
• Positions Pulju as a strategically significant project in the context of the rapidly growing battery materials supply chain in Europe.
• Exploration planning underway to refine the next phase of exploration, with an emphasis on potential high-grade targets within the vast disseminated nickel sulphide complex defined at Pulju.

Pulju is located in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt (CLGB) of Finland, 50km north of Kittilä with access to world-class infrastructure, grid power, national highway, an international airport and, most importantly, Europe’s only two nickel smelters. The municipality of Kittilä also hosts western Europe’s largest gold mine, Suurikuusikko, operated by Agnico Eagle.

This updated MRE establishes Pulju as a globally significant nickel sulphide project, particularly given its proximity to the fast-growing European battery materials and EV sector.

The known nickel mineralisation in the CLGB is typically associated with ultramafic cumulate and komatiitic rocks with high-grade, massive sulphide lenses and veins enveloped by very large, lower grade disseminated nickel near-surface. The disseminated nickel at the Hotinvaara Prospect is widespread, while the known massive sulphides and higher-grade accumulations remain the primary target for upcoming drill campaigns at Hotinvaara.

The revised in-situ JORC (2012) MRE of 418Mt @ 0.21% Ni, is focused primarily on the potential of the near-surface disseminated mineralisation. Importantly, the area containing the MRE is limited solely to the Hotinvaara Exploration Licence area, which represents just 5km² of Nordic’s total prospective project area of 240km² at the Pulju Project.

Management Comment

Nordic Nickel Managing Director, Todd Ross, said the substantial increase in the in-situ MRE reflected the success of the Company’s maiden drill program in 2023, with the outcomes demonstrating the enormous scale and significance of the Pulju Project.

“Achieving a more than threefold increase in overall tonnages and contained metal is a fantastic result for our shareholders which really puts Pulju on the global nickel map,” he said.

“While cautioning that this is an in-situ MRE and further work is underway to fully establish its economic potential, the updated MRE clearly establishes the size of the disseminated nickel sulphide system – which remains open in almost all directions. It is also particularly significant that the updated MRE represents just two per cent of our overall landholding in North Finland.

“The revised MRE shows that Hotinvaara is a very fertile ultramafic system with disseminated sulphides now defined over a vast area. Our geology team, supported and advised by some of the world’s best nickel sulphide experts, believe this represents a clear marker or pathfinder to potential zones of higher-grade mineralisation, as well as delineating a major deposit in its own right.

“Strategically, this will be our focus over the coming months as we progress further studies to evaluate the disseminated mineralisation – principally detailed metallurgical testwork.

“The discovery of a significant zone of Sakatti-style mineralisation at Pulju could quickly transform the project and elevate the importance of the disseminated mineralisation already defined.

“We believe that Pulju is a project that is perfectly positioned to benefit from what we expect to be a significant recovery in the global nickel market in the coming years as the Western World seeks new sources of Class-1 nickel.

“European end-users in particular are already looking for potential sources of high-quality ‘green nickel’ to fuel the EV and battery industries of the next decade. Cheap Indonesian nickel is simply not an option for these customers, and that is the gap in the market we are chasing.

“European battery makers and auto giants are in the market for raw materials that come from within Europe and have solid green credentials. There aren’t many new mines in this part of the world to meet that demand – and that’s where projects like Pulju come in.

“This updated MRE sets a very strong value foundation for Nordic Nickel and provides us with an excellent launch pad to move forward into our second year of operations in Finland. We are looking forward to a busy year ahead with the resumption of drilling, metallurgical testwork results and other strategic developments that could significantly enhance the project.”

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