Mr. Martin Turenne reports

FPX NICKEL PUBLISHES SCOPING STUDY REPORT FOR NORTH AMERICA'S LARGEST NICKEL SULPHATE REFINERY

Further to FPX Nickel Corp.'s news release dated Feb. 24, 2025, it has published the report for the Awaruite refinery scoping study on its website.

The study demonstrates a compelling business case for the development of a stand-alone refinery to refine awaruite concentrate into battery-grade nickel sulphate for the electric vehicle (EV) industry, along with producing valuable cobalt, copper and ammonium sulphate byproducts. The study has been prepared by Wood Canada Ltd. and all amounts are in United States dollars unless otherwise indicated.

Highlights

• Strong economics: after-tax NPV8 (net present value, 8-per-cent discount rate) of $445-million and IRR (internal rate of return) of 20 per cent at $8.50/pound Ni (nickel);
• Large-scale, long life: 40-year operating life producing 32,000 tpa (tonnes per annum) of nickel contained in battery-grade nickel sulphate;
• Valuable products: production of battery-grade nickel sulphate for the EV industry, and byproducts including cobalt, copper and ammonium sulphate, a valuable fertilizer product for the agricultural sector;
• Low cost: total estimated operating costs of $1,598/t Ni, or $133/t Ni (six cents/lb Ni) on a byproduct basis for refining awaruite concentrate to battery-grade nickel sulphate, resulting in total all-in production costs of $8,290/t Ni ($3.76/lb Ni) for nickel sulphate generated from awaruite mineralization (inclusive of mining, processing, refining, on a byproduct basis), with both figures ranking in the lowest decile of the respective global nickel sulphate cost curves;
• Low carbon: a carbon intensity of 0.2 tCO2/t (tons of carbon dioxide emissions per ton) Ni for refining operations, resulting in a total all-in carbon intensity of 1.4 t CO2/t Ni for nickel sulphate generated from awaruite mineralization, which is magnitudes lower than current nickel sulphate production routes.

The study reinforces the opportunity for the development of an integrated, made-in-Canada solution from mine-to-battery, utilizing awaruite concentrate as a lynchpin source of nickel, with conventional refining steps underpinning low-cost, low-carbon nickel production for use in domestic and allied country EV battery supply chains. The study is described more fully in the FPX news release dated Feb. 24, 2025, and incorporates the flowsheet advancements outlined in the company's previously reported pilot-scale hydrometallurgical testwork results (see the FPX news release dated Oct. 15, 2024).

Andrew Osterloh, PEng, FPX's senior vice-president, projects andoperations, has reviewed and approved the content of this news release.

About FPX Nickel Corp.

FPX Nickel is focused on the exploration and development of the Baptiste nickel project, located in central British Columbia, and other occurrences of the same unique style of naturally occurring nickel-iron mineralization known as awaruite.

We seek Safe Harbor.