Metallurgical Testing Of Samples From Selebi And Selkirk Mines

TORONTO - Premium Nickel Resources Ltd. (PNRL) reported on recent metallurgical testing of the Company's nickel, copper, cobalt, platinum-group elements (Ni-Cu-Co-PGE) Selkirk project and the nickel, copper, cobalt Selebi project, both of which are located in Botswana.

The Selkirk Ni-Cu-Co-PGE deposit, located 75 kilometres north of PNRL's flagship Selebi Mine in Botswana, is a near surface deposit that has been extensively drilled by previous operators. The drill results and various historic estimates were reported in the technical report entitled "NI 43-101 Technical Report, Selkirk Nickel Project, Northeast District, Republic of Botswana". As reported in the Selkirk Technical Report, there is a significant increase in total tonnage of historic estimates when the cut-off grade is lowered.

PNRL's initial metallurgical testwork carried out in 2021 demonstrated that commercial nickel and copper concentrates could be produced at feed grades of 0.44% Ni, 0.55% Cu. PNRL recently completed a new series of metallurgical tests at SGS Canada on four composite samples with assays averaging 0.20% Ni, 0.18% Cu, 0.08 g/t Pt, 0.37 g/t Pd and 0.01 g/t Au, with the purpose of demonstrating that reasonable recoveries were possible near the cut-off grades used in the 2016 historic estimates. QA/QC was carried out internally at SGS Canada.

The current metallurgical test program was designed to collect information that will be used to evaluate processing options. Given the disseminated nature of the Ni-Cu-PGE mineralization at Selkirk, a processing flowsheet designed to maximize Ni-Cu-Co-PGE recovery via a bulk flotation concentrate is being evaluated. This could add optionality for saleable products, which could include a separate Cu concentrate and a separate Ni-Cu-Co-PGE concentrate, to be further refined by hydrometallurgical processing.

The four composite samples were therefore subjected to milling and flotation testing targeted to maximize nickel recovery into a bulk nickel-copper concentrate (before copper-nickel separation).

Keith Morrison, CEO, said. "These initial metallurgical test results for the leaching of concentrate from both Selebi and Selkirk are very good. This news release focuses predominantly on the Selkirk results as this is a near surface deposit that contains appreciable PGE content. The results of the recent testwork are particularly significant for Selkirk as PGEs can be challenging to leach sometimes. The Selkirk Ni-Cu-Co-PGE deposit has exceptional tonnage potential. Previous processing studies on Selkirk were focused on producing a concentrate for refining at the Phikwe smelter which shut down in 2016. PNRL is committed to producing the highest quality Ni-Cu-Co products with the lowest possible carbon footprint, and that will require an alternate processing option. This recent testwork is part of a larger effort of gathering data to assess the various available options. These very encouraging Phase 1 results indicate that almost all of the available Ni-Cu-Co-PGEs contained in the flotation concentrate is leached into solution through the Platsol hydrometallurgical process. These results, and the results of the Phase 2 processing, will allow us to further refine our engineering studies on the Selkirk Deposit."