TORONTO, Ontario — February 26, 2026 — Leads & Copy —
Canada Nickel Company Inc. has announced mineralogical and metallurgical results from its Midlothian Project, confirming recoverable awaruite with grades and scale comparable to other awaruite deposits. The company owns 100% of the project.
An initial resource for Midlothian was published on December 18, 2025, with 590 million tonnes Inferred at 0.28% nickel. Midlothian is located in the Timmins Nickel District.
CEO Mark Selby noted the announcement confirms Midlothian as a significant deposit and that the results highlight the potential of the resource, which contains quantities of awaruite ranging from 0.25-0.36% and has the highest average nickel grade in the company portfolio (0.28%) and total nickel grades more than 30% higher than other leading awaruite deposits. According to Selby, Midlothian is emerging as one of the most promising deposits in the District.
Selby added the company is encouraged by these early results, especially as initial Davis Tube Recoverable (DTR) tests were done at a coarser grind size than other deposits, and that a finer grind may yield even higher DTR nickel results. The company plans to assay all existing and future drill holes to allow a DTR nickel resource grade to be calculated in addition to a total recoverable nickel resource, as the awaruite mineralization has been confirmed to be widespread at Midlothian.
Midlothian is located 64 kilometers southwest of Timmins and 20 kilometers west of Matachewan, Ontario. It is a large serpentinized ultramafic approximately 2.5 km long and up to 520 meters wide – with a geophysical footprint of 1.7 km2 – consisting mainly of a highly serpentinized dunite core with minor peridotite and significant awaruite nickel mineralization accounting for up to 79% of the total nickel content.
The initial total nickel resource estimate was published at the end of 2025 containing an Inferred Resource of 0.59 billion tonnes grading 0.28% nickel for a total of 1.68 million tonnes of nickel. The resource estimate was based on 22 drillholes, where all drillholes were sampled for geochemical analysis at an average rate of one core sample per 1.5 metres. In addition, one sample every twenty core samples was selected and submitted for mineralogical (QEMSCAN) testing.
This release summarizes the mineralogical results for 177 samples from the first 14 of the 22 drillholes, as well as metallurgical results for four separate composites representing different mineralization styles within the deposit. The results highlight the thoroughly serpentinized nature of the ultramafics and confirm the different mineral forms in which nickel is hosted. Mineralogical results on the remaining eight holes are pending. The nickel mineralization is dominated by a nickel-iron alloy (awaruite) and minor nickel sulphide (heazlewoodite). Both awaruite and heazlewoodite are minerals that have a higher nickel tenor, ranging between 65-75% nickel content.
Brucite, a key mineral indicator for carbon sequestration potential was also identified by QEMSCAN. Midlothian contains significantly higher abundance than both Crawford’s East and Main Zones.
Metallurgical testing was conducted at the XPS laboratory in Sudbury, Ontario on four samples representing different mineralization styles taken from the Midlothian drill core. The samples were prepared to target variability in mineral grain sizes and serpentine speciation. The samples were subjected to Davis Tube testwork by grinding the samples and passing them through a magnet with wash water. The recovered magnetic fraction was then characterized as the “Davis Tube Recoverable” or “DTR” fraction. The test results show DTR grades ranging from 0.07-0.15% nickel and 2.6-3.6% iron. There is potential to increase the DTR grades through finer grinding as the primary grind size of ~190 µm was coarser than what has been reported by others (e.g., 75 µm).
The results demonstrate the high nickel tenor of heazlewoodite and awaruite minerals and the low nickel grade of serpentine. These results coupled with the Davis Tube nickel results are encouraging because they show that nickel has been liberated from the olivine minerals through the serpentinization process.
Stephen J. Balch P.Geo. (ON), VP Exploration of Canada Nickel and a “Qualified Person” as such term is defined by National Instrument 43-101, has verified the data disclosed in this news release, and has otherwise reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release on behalf of Canada Nickel Company Inc.
Canada Nickel Company Inc. is advancing the next generation of nickel-sulphide projects to deliver nickel required to feed the high growth electric vehicle and stainless steel markets. Canada Nickel Company has applied in multiple jurisdictions to trademark the terms NetZero Nickel™, NetZero Cobalt™, NetZero Iron™ and is pursuing the development of processes to allow the production of net zero carbon nickel, cobalt, and iron products. Canada Nickel provides investors with leverage to nickel in low political risk jurisdictions. Canada Nickel is currently anchored by its 100% owned flagship Crawford Nickel-Cobalt Sulphide Project in the heart of the prolific Timmins-Cochrane mining camp.
Source: Canada Nickel Company Inc.
