Canadian North Resources Files NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Ferguson Lake Project in Nunavut, Canada

Highlights:

• Indicated Mineral Resources to 66.1 million tonnes (Mt) containing 1,093 million pounds (Mlb) copper at 0.75%, 678Mlb nickel at 0.47%, 79Mlb cobalt at 0.05%, 2.34 million ounces (Moz) palladium at 1.10 g/t and 0.42Moz platinum at 0.19 g/t.
• 80% of the Indicated Mineral Resources are Open Pit comprising 52.7Mt at 0.65% Cu, 0.43% Ni, 0.05% Co, 0.97g/t Pd and 0.17% Pt.
• Inferred Mineral Resources of 25.9Mt containing 558Mlb copper at 0.98%, 333Mlb nickel at 0.58%, 40Mlb cobalt at 0.07%, 1.12Moz palladium at 1.43 g/t and 0.21Moz platinum at 0.25 g/t.
• The Mineral Resources are estimated only for the West, Central and East Zone of the 15km long main mineralized horizon. The potential to identify additional Mineral Resources exists along the strike and down dip of the currently defined Mineral Resources and on satellite zones including M-Zone, A51-Zone, A51 Far Side Zone, West Zone South and South Discovery Zone.

TORONTO, May 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Canadian North Resources Inc. (“Canadian North” or the “Company”) (TSXV: CNRI; OTCQX: CNRSF; FSE: EO0 (E-O-zero)) is pleased to announce that following the release of the Mineral Resource estimate on March 19, 2024, it has filed its National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on its 100% owned Ferguson Lake base metal (nickel, copper, cobalt) and platinum-group metals (“PGM”, palladium and platinum) Project (“the Ferguson Lake Project” or “the Project”), entitled “Independent Technical Report on the Mineral Resource Estimate for the Ferguson Lake Project, Nunavut, Canada (“the Technical Report”)”, prepared by SRK Consulting and Ronacher McKenzie Geoscience Inc., effective March 19, 2024, on SEDAR at http://www.sedar+.com. The Technical Report has also been posted on the Company’s website at www.cnresources.com.

“The new NI 43-101 Technical Report has demonstrated the project is one of the largest and highest-grade undeveloped critical mineral projects in North America, still with large potential for Mineral Resource expansion,” commented Dr. Kaihui Yang, President and CEO of Canadian North, “We believe this filed Mineral Resource provide a solid bases for the development of a potential producing mine. We will continue to expand the size of the Project, expand the metallurgical testing, and commence economic evaluation, infrastructure, and environmental studies for a low-carbon footprint mine development plan for the Ferguson Lake Project.”

On March 19, 2024, the Company announced the results of the updated Mineral Resource estimation in compliant with NI43-101 Standard for the Ferguson Lake Project. The Technical Report was completed by SRK Consulting and Ronacher McKenzie Geoscience Inc., based on their independent review, verification and modeling of exploration and metallurgical data for the Project. The main conclusions of the NI43-101 Technical Report are summarized below:

• The Technical Report supports the definition of the large and high-grade Mineral Resource at the Ferguson Lake Project (Table 1), including 52.7Mt of high-grade open pit Indicated Mineral Resources at 0.65% Cu, 0.43% Ni, 0.05% Co, 0.97g/t Pd and 0.17% Pt, which provides a solid Mineral Resource base for the initial development of a potential large mine.
• Mineral Resources are estimated for West, Central and East Zones along the 15km-long main mineralized horizon (Figure 1). The Mineral Resource model indicates potential for continued Mineral Resource expansion along strike and at depth over the mineralized horizon.
• Significant resource upside potential outside the main mineralized zone is anticipated when sufficient grid definition drilling is completed on additional zones including M-Zone, A51-Zone, A51 Far Side Zone, West Zone South and South Discovery Zone
• The Mineral Resources were estimated based on the flotation-gravity flowsheet, a low-capital cost option for the potential mine development with lower metal recoveries (refer to the Notes below) than hydrometallurgy. The results of hydrometallurgical tests demonstrated much higher recoveries for copper, nickel, cobalt, palladium and platinum. Alternatively, the hydrometallurgy could be a technically highly effective option for the mine development of the Ferguson Lake Project, albeit with potentially higher capital and operating costs.

• The NSR values of the Mineral Resources are sensitive to the metallurgical processing methods. Compared to the flotation-gravity flowsheet, the hydrometallurgical process with very high recoveries of metals significantly increases the NSR values of the Mineral Resources, but was not considered for this study due to the higher cut-off values associated with hydrometallurgical processes.
• Mineral Resources are primarily modelled on the occurrence of massive or semi-massive sulphide (MS) as a lithological type, with a total of 18 massive sulphide and 2 low-sulphide PGE domains (LSPGE). Overall, the total volume of the massive sulphide mineralized zones increased by 25% in comparison with a prior 2022 model.
• The MS domains were modeled based on logging criteria and the nickel and copper assays >1% Ni + Cu. The LSPGE domains were modeled with Pd + Pt > 1 g/t.
• Rhodium, gold and silver are not included in the resource modeling due to no systematically collected assay results, although there are significant local assay values in mineralized zones.
• All the Mineral Resources were established within the mining leases. The Project covers an area of 253.8 km², including 96.9 km² of mining leases and 124 km² of exploration claims. This land package covers all the known base metals and PGM mineralized zones and outcrops at the Ferguson Lake area. Drilling and surface programs are being carried out over the area.
• Significant technical programs with an estimated budget of over $46 million are recommended for the exploration and expansion of Mineral Resources, follow-up metallurgical tests and development and environmental baseline studies at the Ferguson Lake Project.

Figure 1: Geological Map showing Mineralization Zones. The Mineral Resources incorporate West, Central and East Zones.

Table 1: Mineral Resource Statement*, Ferguson Lake Project, Nunavut, SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc., March 19, 2024

Mineral Resource Estimation Notes

• The Mineral Resource estimation work including construction of geological solids, grade estimation, associated sensitivity analyses, and Mineral Resource classification was completed by Joycelyn Smith, P.Geo. (PGO#2963), under supervision of Mr. Glen Cole, P.Geo. (PGO#1416), an appropriate independent Qualified Person as this term is defined in National Instrument 43-101.
• The Mineral Resources have been estimated in conformity with generally accepted Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM) Estimation of Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserves Best Practices Guidelines (November 2019) and are reported in accordance with the Canadian Securities Administrators’ National Instrument (NI) 43-101.
• Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and have not demonstrated economic viability. All figures are rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate.
• A total of 18 massive sulphide and two low-sulphide platinum group element (LSPGE) domains were modeled within an overall host gabbroic intrusion to constrain the mineralization.
• The Mineral Resources for the Ferguson Lake Project are estimated based 756 boreholes (approximately 226,167 metres) as of November 2, 2023, including 129 boreholes (approximately 35,775 meters) added to the deposit model out of the 39,270 metres completed since the previous Mineral Resource update as on June 13, 2022 (refer to “Independent Technical Report, Updated Mineral Resource Estimate, Ferguson Lake Project, Nunavut, Canada, Prepared by Ronacher McKenzie Geoscience Inc. and Francis Minerals Ltd ” filed by the Company to Sedar.com on July 13, 2022).
• All composites have been capped where appropriate.
• The Mineral Resources for the Ferguson Lake Project were estimated using Leapfrog Edge™ software. The estimation parameters consider 3 passes estimated by Ordinary Kriging with progressively relaxed criteria, including a requirement of 3-4 boreholes in the first pass, 2-3 boreholes in the second pass and at least 4 composites in the third pass. Massive sulphide domains were estimated with hard boundaries, and LSPGE domains were estimated with limited (10m) soft boundaries.
• The block classification strategy considers drillhole spacing, geologic confidence and continuity of category. Indicated Mineral Resources were defined for blocks inside geological resource solids estimated within the first two passes and having a nominal drillholes spacing less than 150 metres. Classification results were smoothed to improve continuity.
• Mineral Resources are reported in relation to a conceptual pit shell and underground mining shapes. Open pit Mineral Resources include all blocks inside the conceptual shell. Underground mineral resources include blocks not meeting open pit reporting requirements contained within conceptual mining shapes.
• Open pit Mineral Resources are reported at a NSR cut-off value of US$33.00 and underground Mineral Resources are reported at a NSR cut-off value of US$96.00. Cut-off values are based on a price of US$4.00 per pound of copper, US$9.00 per pound of nickel, US$22.00 per pound of cobalt, US$1,250 per ounce of palladium, and US$1,150 per ounce of platinum, and recoveries of 95 percent for copper, 51 percent for nickel, 89 percent for cobalt, 76 percent for palladium and 60 percent for platinum for massive sulphide material, and 78 percent for copper, 29 percent for nickel, 48 percent for cobalt, 60 percent for palladium and 70 percent for platinum for LSPGE material, for open pit and underground resources.
• The reported Mineral Resource is inclusive of East, Central and West zones along the 15km-long main mineralized horizon.

Authors and Qualified Persons Statement:

The NI43-101 Technical Report was completed by Elisabeth Ronacher, PhD, P.Geo. of Ronacher McKenzie Geoscience Inc. and Mr. Glen Cole, P.Geo. and Adrian Dance, PhD, PEng. of SRK Consulting (Canada), who are all Independent Qualified Persons (QP) as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Ms. Joycelyn Smith, PGeo also contributed to the Technical Report.

Trevor Boyd, PhD, P.Geo. and Technical Advisor for Canadian North Resources, a qualified person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101 standards and has reviewed the technical content of this news release and has approved its dissemination.

About Canadian North Resources Inc.:

Canadian North Resources Inc. is an exploration and development company focusing on the critical metals for the clean-energy, electric vehicles, battery and high-tech industries. The company is advancing its 100% owned Ferguson Lake nickel, copper, cobalt, palladium, and platinum project in Nunavut, Canada.

Further information please visit the website at www.cnresources.com or contact:

Dr. Kaihui Yang, President and CEO

Phone: 905-696-8288 (Canada) 1-888-688-8809 (Toll-Free)

Email: info@cnresources.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this news release, including statements which may contain words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “estimates”, or similar expressions, and statements related to matters which are not historical facts, are forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements, which reflect management’s expectations regarding the Company’s future growth, results of operations, performance, business prospects and opportunities, are based on certain factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company’s forward-looking statements. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained in this news release and the documents incorporated by reference herein are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct. In addition, although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any future revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as expressly required by law.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/91a820ce-7982-462f-94a6-2273ecce5d79. 

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