First Nickel drills Dundonald South (February 28, 2005)

Drilling on the Dundonald property, near Timmins, Ont., continues to return encouraging results for First Nickel (FNI-T).

Hole S05-30, one of 14 sunk on the Dundonald South zone, returned 3 metres (starting at 123.5 metres below surface) grading 11.2% nickel, including 1.3 metres (from 125.2 metres) of 23.7% nickel, 0.64% copper and 0.34% cobalt.

Beginning at a depth of 195.5 metres, the hole yielded a further 1.6 metres of 8.5% nickel, followed by 4.9 metres (from 219.1 metres) of 2.3% nickel. The hole cut Dundonald South’s E, F and G zones and was terminated while still in mineralization. First Nickel plans to extend the hole as it continues to drill this little-explored portion of Dundonald South.

Another highlight was hole S05-40, which returned 4.8 metres (from 85.9 metres) grading 5.9% nickel. The first 1.3 metres contained 11.5% nickel and 4.5 grams combined platinum, palladium and gold per tonne in the G zone.

Platinum group metal assays for both holes are pending.

The remaining holes generally returned grades of around 1-4% nickel over 1-3 metres. PGM values from eight holes ranged from 0.2 to 2.8 grams combined platinum-palladium-gold.

First Nickel has sunk 77 holes (16,800 metres) at Dundonald, nearly all of which cut significant nickel.

The company intends to carry out line-cutting and ground geophysics. Plans also call for stripping to remove some 300,000 cubic metres worth of surface material from the eastern portion of the Dundonald South zone.

In March, the company will begin drilling on the Dundeal nickel zone, 1.2 km to the north, the goal being to test the structure’s near-surface, up-plunge projection.

Previous drilling by Falconbridge (fl-t) outlined a zone of ultramafic volcanic-associated nickel mineralization along 1.5 km of strike. Included is an 800-metre-long core zone, which extends to a depth of at least 700 metres and remains open at depth.

Historic drill results include 4.7 metres grading 2.1% nickel, 4.25 metres of 2.4% nickel, and 3.9 metres of 3% nickel. Another hole yielded 2.6% nickel plus 2 grams combined platinum-palladium-gold over 2 metres. The intersections are centred around 400 metres below surface.

Dundonald South strikes east and dips steeply to the south; the northern portion comprises five sub-parallel zones, with another three in the southern portion. The property is 25 km from Falconbridge’s Kidd Creek metallurgical facility.

First Nickel acquired the property early last year via a deal that saw Falconbridge granted an 18.4% stake in the junior. To maintain its interest, First Nickel must spend at least $1.75 million on the property by the end of 2005.