Higher-grade nickel zone identified at Zebediela
Z e b Ni c k e l Co r p .
H e a d Of f i c e : S u i t e 4 0 1 , 4 K i n g S t r e e t W e st , T or o n t o , On t a r i o , C a n a d a
R e g i s t e r ed Of f i c e : S u i t e 2 2 0 0 , 8 8 5 W e s t G e o r g i a S t r e e t , V a n c o u v e r , B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , V 6 C 3 E 8
Zeb Nickel Corp
TSX-V: ZBNI
www.zebnickel.com
Tel: +1 416 628 3100
NEWS RELEASE
Higher-grade nickel zone identified at Zebediela
Highlights:
An analysis of deeper holes drilled at the Zeb Project has revealed a higher-grade
nickel mineralized zone at the base of the historical nickel resource estimate.
An investigation of a full compilation of all data (drilling, 3D geological modelling
and assays) has revealed that historical drilling stopped short of testing this
higher-grade mineralized zone, meaning that this ore body is significantly under
explored.
Further drilling into this zone may result in intersecting higher nickel grades and
lead to an overall increase in grade.
Three-dimensional geological modelling and data interpretation now completed.
Vancouver, BC, February 7, 2023 – ZEB Nickel Corp. (TSX-V: ZBNI) (OTC:ZBNIF) (“Zeb”
or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that the Company has now completed a full
evaluation of the results from both the Phase 1 and Phase 2 drilling campaigns, as
reported in News Release March 15, 2022, and related these results to all available
historical information, updated the exploration model and produced a three-dimensional
geological model of the project area.
The Company has identified higher grade zones within the Lower Zone lithologies that
host the historical nickel resource estimate as described in the Company’s NI43-101.
Much of the historical drilling stopped short of these higher-grade zones, and further
drilling into these zones could result in an increase in the grade of the resource estimate
hosted in these Lower Zone lithologies as illustrated in Figure 1 below.
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Figure 1: A section through the Lower Zone Uitloop II body showing that majority of the historical
drillholes stopped in the Serpentinised Dunite Unit or at the top of the Serpentinite Unit. Photo A
and B shows the increased sulfide content of 5 - 10% that are disseminated and blebby in nature
associated with the Serpentinised Unit and Poikilitic Harzburgite Unit. The yellow dashed area
represents the potential higher grade nickel mineralization adjacent to and below the existing
historical estimate.
The development of a three-dimensional geological model has allowed the Company to
better focus the next phase of exploration, which will include infill drilling on the gold
targets with the aim of declaring a resource on the gold mineralization.
The next phase of drilling on the Zebediela project aims to:
• Allow for the declaration of a current NI43-101 resource statement on the
historical nickel resource hosted within Lower Zone lithologies;
• Define more resources in the “indicated resource” category for the nickel
resource hosted in Lower Zone lithologies, and potentially move some
material into the “measured resource” category;
• Increase the overall grade and tonnage on the historical nickel resource by
targeting the serpentinite and poikilitic harzburgite units, where higher nickel
grades have been intersected by previous drilling;
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• Increase the grade and tonnage within Critical Zone (Target 2) lithologies,
which consists of material proven to be a shallower up-dip extension of
Ivanhoe’s 800 m deep Platreef on the adjacent property;
• Determine the extent of the high-grade mineralized nickel zone at the base
of, and in the footwall to, the Lower Zone lithologies, which is contact style
mineralization and may host semi-massive to massive Ni-PGE sulfide
mineralization; and
• Conduct infill diamond drilling to test the extent of the gold discovery, as
reported in news releases on September 19th, 2022 and March 15, 2022;
The infill diamond drilling campaign is designed in a way that will test all four targets in
one drilling program, as described on the Company’s website
(https://zebnickel.com/company-presentation/).
The case for increased nickel grade within the Historical Resource
The historical resource is associated with the ultramafic Lower Zone body, which hosts
the historical estimate. The nickel mineralization starts near surface and was tested to
a depth of ~350 m and has a strike length of 3 km. The body dips southwestward (30-
70°) and is in excess of 350 m thick. There are approximately 34 drillholes which have
intersected this body, however, the majority of the historical holes are stopped in the
middle of the body and did not test the full nickel mineralization potential of this body.
This body was previously thought to be relatively homogenous in both lithologies and
nickel mineralization. A recent investigation conducted by the Company’s geologists has
indicated that this body is not as homogeneous as previously interpreted. The body can
be divided into four broad stratigraphic units, namely the Dunite Unit, the Serpentinised
Dunite Unit, the Serpentinite Unit and the Poikilitic Harzburgite Unit. These four units
have different abundances of sulfide mineralization and associated nickel sulfide
mineralization. The Serpentinite and Poikilitic Harzburgite Units close to the base of the
body have an increased sulfide content of 5% - 10% that are blebby and disseminated
in nature (Figure 1 A and B). This means that higher nickel grades are often associated
with the lower two sulfide-rich stratigraphic units.
Based on these broad lithological units found in the body, the true potential of the nickel
mineralization has not yet been tested (Figure 1). The units that contain the highest
nickel grades have only been intersected in a few of the historical boreholes (e.g., Z015
and U1). The majority of the historical drillholes were stopped in the middle of the
Serpentinised Dunite Unit and did not test for higher-grade Ni mineralization associated
with the lower two units. Z015 intersected these lower units with 21,50 m @ 0,49% Ni
(including 5,50 m @ 0,72% Ni) – see https://zebnickel.com/wp-
content/uploads/2021/06/Caracle-Creek_Zebediela-Ni-NI43-101-Feb25_2021F-
Complete.pdf. The more recent boreholes that were drilled through the entire Lower
Zone stratigraphy, were drilled close to the sub-crop position of the Lower Zone, and
due to the nature of the geometry of the Lower Zone intrusion, these boreholes did not
intersect a well-developed Serpentinite Unit and Poikilitic Harzburgite Units as seen in
Z015 and U1.
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On this basis, the infill drilling program will target the higher-grade mineralized zones
downdip of the sub-crop position of the Lower Zone, rather than the shallow sub-crop
mineralized packages intersected in the historical drilling.
Wayne Isaacs, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Zeb Nickel, commented: The
extensive re-evaluation and remodelling of the geological data following on the
successful Phase 2 drill program has allowed the technical team to target areas of
higher-grade nickel mineralization. The nature of the mineralized orientation means
that we can simultaneously drill for nickel mineralization within the historical resource
as well as the higher grade nickel mineralization located in the Critical Zone, located
beneath the historical resource. Based on Zeb’s recent drilling, the Critical Zone contains
higher grade nickel-copper and PGE mineralization. Furthermore, while we drill for
nickel, we will be drilling through and along strike of the recent gold mineralization
discovery, thus simultaneously advancing our knowledge on the gold mineralization.”
Share for Debt Settlement
Subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company is settling certain
conference sponsorship and attendance fees in the amount of US$150,000 through the
payment of 750,000 common shares, on a “shares for debt” basis. The shares will be
subject to a 4 month hold period under applicable Canadian securities laws from the
date of issue.
About the Company and Project
Zeb Nickel Corp is focused on exploring for and developing world-class mineral deposits,
with a focus on metals that are critical in the production of rechargeable batteries, such
as nickel, graphite, lithium, cobalt, manganese, copper and aluminum. The Company is
currently focused on developing its flagship Zeb Nickel Project, located in Limpopo,
South Africa. The Zeb Nickel Project is a developing Class 1 nickel sulfide project
strategically located in the Bushveld Complex in South Africa. The Zeb Nickel Project
contains an historical NI 43-101 resource of over 3.9 million tons of contained sulfide
nickel, which would rank it number 8 in the global top ten nickel sulfide resources as of
2014 (Mudd, G. M., & Jowitt, S. M. (2014). A detailed assessment of global nickel
resource and trends and endowments. Economic Geology, 109(7), 1813-1841). A
qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current
mineral resources or mineral reserves and the Company is not treating the historical
estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. The historical estimate can
be found on the Company’s website at https://zebnickel.com/wp-
content/uploads/2021/06/Caracle-Creek_Zebediela-Ni-NI43-101-Feb25_2021F-
Complete.pdf.
Qualified Person and Quality Control/Quality Assurance
Richard Montjoie has supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical
information that forms the basis for this news release and has approved the disclosure
herein. Mr. Montjoie is not independent of the Company. Mr. Montjoie is a registered
member of the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP)
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membership number 400131/09. Mr. Montjoie holds a M.Sc. Honors in Economic
Geology from the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, and is fellow of the
Geological Society of South Africa (GSSA).
The analytical work reported on herein was performed by SGS South Africa Proprietary
Limited, based in Randfontein, South Africa, an internationally recognized analytical
services provider. Samples are analysed for Ni using a nitric acid leach and sodium
peroxide fusion, followed by an ICP-AES finish; and Au, Pt, Pd by lead fusion followed
by an ICP-AES finish; and for Rh using palladium collection followed by ICP-OES finish.
The Company has not identified drilling, sampling, recovery or other factors that could
materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the assay data disclosed.
A full Quality Control and Quality Assurance (QAQC) program was conducted on all assay
results, and all reported assays were deemed to be acceptable. The program was
designed and implemented by Dr. Matthew McCreesh. Dr. McCreesh is a registered
member of the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP)
membership number 132928. Dr. McCreesh holds a Ph.D. in Geology from the University
of Witwatersrand, South Africa, and is member of the Geological Society of South Africa
(GSSA). Data was verified by a process of duplicate analyses and the use of certified
reference materials submitted to the laboratory.
For further information, please visit http://www.zebnickel.com or contact:
Zeb Nickel Corp.
Wayne Isaacs
(Chief Executive Officer)
email: [email protected]
Company Website: www.zebnickel.com/
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain information that may constitute "forward-looking information"
under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward looking information includes, but is not
limited to, drill results relating to the Zeb Project, the potential thereof, timing of economic studies
and mineral resource estimates, the aims of the planned drill program, the ability to classify the
historical resource as a current mineral resource, the ability to sell marketable materials, strategic
plans, including future exploration and development results, and corporate and technical
objectives. Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon a number of assumptions that,
while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other
factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those
expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could affect the outcome
include, among others: future prices and the supply of nickel and other metals, the future
demand for nickel and other metals, the results of drilling, inability to raise the money necessary
to incur the expenditures required to retain and advance the property, environmental liabilities
(known and unknown), general business, economic, competitive, political and social
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uncertainties, results of exploration programs, risks of the mining industry, delays in obtaining
governmental approvals, failure to obtain regulatory or shareholder approvals, and the impact of
COVID-19 related disruptions in relation to the Company's business operations including upon its
employees, suppliers, facilities and other stakeholders. There can be no assurance that such
information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially
from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance
on forward-looking information. All forward-looking information contained in this press release is
given as of the date hereof and is based upon the opinions and estimates of management and
information available to management as at the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intention
or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
The TSX-V has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.
Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies
of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.