Mr. Keith Morrison reports

PREMIUM NICKEL RESOURCES LTD. ANNOUNCES ASSAY RESULTS AT ITS 100% OWNED SELEBI MINE IN BOTSWANA INCLUDING: 16.75 METRES OF 1.72% NIEQ (1.00% NI, 2.05% CU, 0.04% CO)

Premium Nickel Resources Ltd. has released additional assay results from the company's 2022 diamond drilling program at its 100-per-cent-owned Selebi nickel-copper-cobalt (Ni-Cu-Co) sulphide mine in Botswana.

The company's phase 1 drilling program was successfully completed in January, 2023. The purpose of this phase 1 program was to demonstrate the upside potential of the Selebi mine mineralized structures within the three-kilometre area between the Selebi historical mine workings to the south and the Selebi North historic mine workings to the north. The results of the drilling program, in conjunction with the borehole electromagnetic (BHEM) program, have provided significant evidence that the Selebi and Selebi North deposits are part of one large mineralized system and that mineralization is present in at least two mineralized amphibolite hosted horizons: the upper interval and lower interval.

The company has completed approximately 15,074 metres of diamond drilling in phase 1 of the drill program at the Selebi mine, resulting in multiple high-grade intercepts as reported in previously released assays. The company is now pleased to announce the receipt of results for an additional two drill holes, SMD-22-008a and SMD-22-009a, which are reported herein.

Notable highlights include:

• SMD-22-009a-W2: 16.75 metres of 1.72 per cent nickel equivalent (NiEq) (1.00 per cent nickel (Ni), 2.05 per cent copper (Cu) and 0.04 per cobalt (Co)), including:
  • 9.35 metres of 2.39 per cent NiEq (1.34 per cent Ni, 3.01 per cent Cu and 0.05 per cent Co);
  • 2.20 metres of 1.76 per cent NiEq (1.33 per cent Ni, 1.11 per cent Cu and 0.05 per cent Co);
• SMD-22-008a-W2: 9.90 metres of 0.73 per cent NiEq (0.35 per cent Ni, 1.13 per cent Cu and 0.01 per cent Co), including:
  • Six metres of 0.78 per cent NiEq (0.26 per cent Ni, 1.58 per cent Cu and 0.01 per cent Co);
• BHEM and drilling data provide considerable evidence that the Selebi and Selebi North deposits are part of one large mineralized system.

Keith Morrison, chief executive officer, commented: "PNRL's previous drill holes on the Selebi mine revealed substantial expansion potential and continuity of mineralization along strike, downdip and downplunge of the 2016 SAMREC [South African mineral resource committee] resource estimate reported at Selebi. The previous holes were designed to test the upside potential of the Selebi mineralization, while the holes in this release were drilled updip and downdip of previous mineralization. By reducing the distance between holes, the company is gaining a deeper understanding of the structural controls on mineralization and making progress towards defining a potential inferred mineral resource that may be used in a future PEA [preliminary economic assessment] prepared in accordance with NI 43-101. The intersection in SMD-22-009a, located 140 metres updip of sd119, highlights the potential dip extent of substantial mineralization widths."

The company previously released results from seven holes, including SMD-22-001, SMD-22-002 and SMD 22-001-W1, SMD-22-006a, SMD-22-006a-W2, SMD-22-007a, and the extension of historic hole sd145x. Assay results are still pending from one additional hole, SMD-22-012, which was drilled between widely spaced historic holes and intersected 170 metres northeast of sd119. The company's program of cleaning holes and completing BHEM will continue with the drill currently focusing on the area north of Selebi North, near the northern property boundary.

Exploration update

The phase 1 exploration program focused on an area at the western downdip edge of the 2016 South African Mineral Resource Committee resource estimate reported on Selebi, comprising measured mineral resources of 370,000 tonnes (t) of 1.01 per cent Ni and 2.19 per cent Cu; indicated mineral resources of 6.82 million tonnes (Mt) of 1.05 per cent Ni and 2.29 per cent Cu; and inferred mineral resources of 4.09 Mt of 0.86 per cent Ni. Historic drill hole sd119 (estimated true thickness interval of 38.5 metres averaging 1.58 per cent Ni and 2.44 per cent Cu, including 21.4 metres of 2.34 per cent Ni and 3.39 per cent Cu), is located approximately 300 metres north from the closest Selebi mine underground infrastructure and is used as Premium Nickel's point of reference for this initial drill program to help communicate stepout distances and geometries of additional drill hole pierce points.

The drilling to date has not fully defined the plunge direction or dip extent of the structurally controlled thickening of the mineralization. BHEM and drill data indicate that the plunge direction is turning toward the west with depth and indicates a downdip extension of the mineralization in both the upper and lower intervals. The BHEM data from all holes is currently being integrated with the updated structural model to refine the location of the controlling structures for more precise resource drilling planned for 2023.

A summary of assays and drill collar information are provided in the attached tables.

Further details of drilling completed at the Selebi deposit are outlined below.

SMD-22-008a intersected mineralized amphibolite 130 metres downdip from SMD-22-001. The hole intersected multiple mineralized intervals, including remobilized chalcopyrite-rich pyrrhotite veins along the upper gneiss/amphibolite contact, measuring 0.30 metre in width from 1449.20 to 1449.50 metres. The strongest mineralization, present as veins, blebs and disseminations within an altered amphibolite returned 0.35 per cent Ni, 1.23 per cent Cu and 0.01 per cent Co over 9.90 metres from 1,465.10 to 1,475.00 metres, including six metres grading 0.26 per cent Ni, 1.58 per cent Cu and 0.01 per cent Co from 1,469.00 to 1,475.00 metres.

SMD-22-009a targeted a large unevaluated area updip of historic drill hole sd119 and north of a modelled crosscutting dolerite dike. The hole intersected significant mineralization 140 metres updip of historic drill hole sd119 (downhole length of 48.5 metres grading 1.52 per cent Ni and 2.50 per cent Cu). This intercept occurs 150 metres downdip of the 1050L sill drive.

The hole intersected 35.30 metres of disseminated to massive sulphide mineralization from 1,185.75 to 1,221.05 metres within a hydrated amphibolite. At the top of the intersection, from 1,185.75 to 1,187.80 metres, narrow veins within a brecciated zone of garnetiferous amphibolite returned 2.05 metres grading 0.81 per cent Ni, 0.44 per cent Cu and 0.03 per cent Co, including 1.14 per cent Ni, 0.83 per cent Cu and 0.04 per cent Co over 1.05 metres from 1,185.75 to 1,186.80 metres.

Farther downhole, from 1,202.65 to 1,219.40 m, an interval of patchy to semi-massive to massive sulphide mineralization returned 1.00 per cent Ni, 2.05 per cent Cu and 0.04 per cent Co over 16.75 metres. This 16.75-metre interval included two higher-grade intervals: 1.34 per cent Ni, 3.01 per cent Cu and 0.05 per cent Co over 9.35 metres from 1,202.65 to 1,212.00 metres and 1.33 per cent Ni, 1.11 per cent Cu and 0.05 per cent Co over 2.20 metres from 1,216.00 to 1,218.20 metres. A second mineralized horizon, hosted within an altered amphibolite, was intersected between 1,235.45 to 1,247.45 metres but returned no significant values.

These assay results, combined with continuing geophysical surveys using the Crone PEM system and structural data, will aid in defining and supporting the upcoming underground drilling programs at the Selebi mine. The BHEM surveys were conducted by local staff using a three-component fluxgate probe collecting full waveform data with time bases between 50 and 1,000 ms (0.25 hertz to 4.5 hertzes). The data have been processed to better quantify conductive sources, which has proven valuable due to the size of the highly conductive mineralized system.

Quality control

The drilling was carried out by Mitchell Drilling of Botswana utilizing a Sandvik UDR1500 diamond drill rig coring NQ-size drill core (47.75 mm) and Discovery Drilling using a DS2500 diamond drill coring BQ sized drill core (36.5 mm). All samples were cut in half on site using a diamond saw, with one-half retained for reference purposes. Sampling was done at intervals of one to 1.5 metres or less as deemed necessary by the site geologists. Sample preparation and lab analysis were completed at the ALS Chemex in Johannesburg, South Africa. To ensure accuracy, commercially prepared blank samples and certified Cu/Ni sulphide analytical control standards with a range of grades are inserted in every batch of 20 samples or a minimum of one set per sample batch. Analyses for Ni, Cu and Co were completed using a peroxide fusion preparation and ICP-AES (inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy) finish (ME-ICP81).

Qualified person

The scientific and technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Sharon Taylor, chief geophysicist of the company, who is a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 (Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects).

Historic data

The work undertaken by the company and SLR Consulting (Canada) Ltd. to verify the historic data compilation is further described in the Selebi technical report. While (i) visual estimates of oxidized sulphides appear to correlate well with logged intercepts and analytical values and (ii) analytical values compared between the logs and the digital database appear to compare well, the technical team continues to collect, compile, review and validate historic technical data relevant to the project. To that end, the Selebi technical report recommends continued compilation and verification to confirm that the QA/QC (quality assurance/quality control) program results are adequate to support the inclusion of the historical drill hole information in a mineral resource estimate in accordance with NI 43-101.

Historical downdip drill hole sd140 was reopened between Oct. 19, 2021, and Nov. 14, 2022, to facilitate new gyro and BHEM surveys. The hole failed to intersect mineralization and also failed to intersect the host amphibolite at the anomaly depth.

Historical estimate

The historical SAMREC mineral resource estimate reported herein was calculated for the Selebi mine in 2016 and does not comply with National Instrument 43-101. To that end, the historic SAMREC resource is considered to be historical in nature and should not be relied upon as a current mineral resource estimate. While management believes that the historic SAMREC resource could be indicative of the presence of mineralization on the Selebi deposit, a qualified person for purposes of NI 43-101 has not completed sufficient work to classify the historical mineral estimate as a current mineral resource estimate and Premium Nickel is not treating the historical mineral estimates as current mineral resource estimate.

About Premium Nickel Resources Ltd.

Premium Nickel is a mineral exploration and development company focused on the discovery and advancement of high-quality nickel copper plus cobalt resources. It believes that the medium-term to long-term demand for these metals will continue to grow, driven by global urbanization and the increasing replacement of internal combustion engines with electric motors. These metals play a crucial role in a low-carbon future.

We seek Safe Harbor.