Mr. Martin Turenne reports

FPX NICKEL COMPLETES PRODUCTION RUN OF BATTERY-GRADE NICKEL SULPHATE TO SUPPORT DISCUSSIONS WITH PROSPECTIVE EV BATTERY SUPPLY CHAIN PARTNERS

FPX Nickel Corp. has successfully produced of additional battery-grade nickel sulphate from its Baptiste nickel project. Building on the success of previous testing campaigns, a production run was completed to produce larger quantities of nickel sulphate crystals. The nickel sulphate samples, which meet the strict target specifications for battery applications, will be provided to selected prospective downstream partners, including pCAM (precursor cathode active material) producers, battery companies and automakers pursuing supply security, traceable sourcing and low-carbon-intensity production.

"The production of high-purity nickel sulphate further positions us to engage in strategic discussions with prospective downstream partners across the global EV [electric vehicle] supply chain," commented Martin Turenne, FPX Nickel's president and director. "This milestone further demonstrates the strategic flexibility of the Baptiste awaruite concentrate and the technical maturity of the awaruite refining process."

Overview

As described in the company's Oct. 15, 2024, news release, FPX completed a pilot-scale refining test program to advance the technical maturity of refining the Baptiste awaruite concentrate to nickel sulphate. This test program included continuous, pilot-scale leaching to produce a low-impurity leach solution. A small portion of the leach solution was further advanced through purification and crystallization operations to nickel sulphate crystals to demonstrate the technical viability of the purification process. The remainder of leach solution was retained for future testing, including continuous, pilot-scale processing of the purification and crystallization area, ensuring the final refinery strategy is supported by purification and crystallization requirements defined in collaboration with FPX Nickel's current and prospective downstream partners.

FPX recently re-engaged Sherritt Technologies Ltd. to conduct an additional nickel sulphate production run, building on Sherritt's successful completion of the previous pilot-scale refining test program. In the current testing campaign, a portion of this remaining leach solution has been processed to produce larger quantities of nickel sulphate crystals. As with previous testing campaigns, the quality of the produced nickel sulphate meets the strict target specifications for battery applications. To further advance the produced qualification process, the nickel sulphate samples will be provided to prospective downstream partners to ensure the quality and suitability of the nickel sulphate for their battery manufacturing process.

Qualified person

The metallurgical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosures for Minerals Projects, of the Canadian Securities Administrators. Test work was supervised, reviewed and verified by Kyle D. Marte, PEng, FPX Nickel's director of Metallurgy and a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101.

About the Baptiste nickel project

The company's Baptiste nickel project represents a large-scale greenfield discovery of nickel mineralization in the form of a sulphur-free nickel-iron mineral called awaruite (Ni3Fe) hosted in an ultramafic/ophiolite complex. The absence of sulphur and the company's ability to connect to the BC Hydro grid means that Baptiste has the potential to be one of the lowest-carbon-intensity nickel producers in the world and will produce a very high-grade product that does not require any intermediate smelting or complex refining. The Baptiste mineral claims cover an area of 453 square kilometres west of Middle River and north of Trembleur Lake in central British Columbia. In addition to the Baptiste deposit itself, awaruite mineralization has been confirmed through drilling at several target areas within the same claims package, most notably at the Van target, which is located six kilometres to the north of the Baptiste deposit. Since 2010, approximately $55-million (U.S.) has been spent on the exploration and development of Baptiste.

FPX has conducted mineral exploration activities to date, subject to the conditions of agreements with first nations and keyoh holders.

About FPX Nickel Corp.

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

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