Ms. Misty Urbatsch reports

CORE NICKEL ANNOUNCES START OF DRILL PROGRAM AT HALFWAY LAKE PROJECT

Core Nickel Corp. has mobilized the drill crews and equipment as a part of the 2024 drill program on the company's 100-per-cent-owned Halfway Lake project in the Thompson nickel belt in Manitoba.

As announced on Feb. 7, 2024, the program is expected to consist of approximately 1,000 metres of diamond drilling. The drill targets for the company's winter drill program will focus on the southwestern part of the project proximal to the historical W62 zone. Historical drilling from the 1960s in the W62 anomaly area intersected sulphidic sedimentary Pipe formation rocks closely associated with ultramafic rocks. Drill hole W62-D intersected mineralized horizons; the main horizon contained 18.9 metres at 0.68 per cent nickel, including 3.05 metres at 1.32 per cent nickel, as referenced from the Manitoba assessment file AR93558. The 2024 winter drilling campaign is planned to focus on the historical W62 zone coincident with a magnetic anomaly identified from an airborne survey completed in 2021. In addition, the company is planning to test a magnetic anomaly approximately 300 metres along strike to the north of the W62 zone. The planned work will build on the technical report on the Halfway and Resting Lake properties in Thompson, Man., prepared by Dr. Chris Beaumont-Smith in 2023, filed under the company's profile on SEDAR+.

The program is fully financed, and, as released on Feb. 26, 2024, the company will utilize a portion of the $207,300 non-repayable grant funding awarded by the Manitoba Mineral Development Fund (MMDF) to support the program.

The company has contracted Dr. Chris Beaumont-Smith, PhD, PGeo, to assist with the Halfway Lake exploration program. Dr. Beaumont-Smith received a PhD in structural geology from the University of New Brunswick. He worked for numerous major mineral exploration companies prior to joining the Manitoba Geological Survey in 1999. Dr. Beaumont-Smith worked in various roles with the Manitoba Geological Survey throughout his time with the government, finishing off his tenure as the director of mines. He left the Manitoba government in 2018 and started consulting for mineral exploration companies and as a regulatory and community engagement consultant. Dr. Beaumont-Smith has experience in all phases of the mining cycle, including extensive knowledge of the mineral exploration industry in Manitoba, Crown-aboriginal consultation, environmental licensing, mine closure and rehabilitation, and the regulatory requirements of the mineral resource development regime in Manitoba.

About Core Nickel Corp.

Core Nickel is a junior nickel exploration company that controls 100 per cent of five properties in the Thompson nickel belt (TNB), a prolific nickel district in Northern Manitoba, Canada. The five properties consist of 150,000 hectares of land that is proximal to existing infrastructure, such as highways and operating mills.

Core Nickel has a large contiguous land package in the northern part of the TNB, situated approximately 16 kilometres to 20 kilometres from the city of Thompson. Core Nickel's northern TNB projects consist of three properties: Mel, Hunter and Odei River. The Mel property encompasses the Mel deposit, which is characterized by a historical National Instrument 43-101 resource estimate with an indicated resource of 4.3 million tonnes at 0.875 per cent nickel, equating to 82.5 million pounds contained nickel, and a historical inferred resource estimate of one million tonnes at 0.839 per cent nickel, equating to 18.7 million pounds of contained nickel. The target stratigraphy (Pipe formation) that hosts the Mel deposit and other deposits in the Thompson nickel belt extends onto the Hunter and Odei River properties, and drill hole intersections into the target stratigraphy on the Hunter project have successfully intersected elevated nickel.

The company also holds two properties in the southern TNB near Wabowden: Halfway Lake and Resting Lake. Both properties host the target Pipe formation associated with known elevated nickel mineralization and are proximal to existing nickel deposits, mills and other infrastructure.

The qualified person under NI 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, for this news release is Misty Urbatsch, MBA, PGeo, chief executive officer, president and director for Core Nickel, who has reviewed and approved its contents.

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