Toronto, Ontario – August 27, 2024 – TheNewswire – Homeland Nickel Inc. (“Homeland Nickel” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: SHL, OTC: SRCGF) is pleased to provide an exploration and corporate update. Homeland Nickel holds a 98.5% interest in two nickel properties in southern Oregon known as the Cleopatra and Red Flat Properties that have an excess of 50 Mt combined nickel laterite resource. The Company also owns a 100% interest in the Eight Dollar and Shamrock Properties also located in southern Oregon. The Company retains a 30% interest in the Great Burnt Copper Project and South Pond Copper and Gold Project that are currently under option to Benton Resources Inc. (“Benton”).

Cleopatra Property Update

During the week of June 7th – 11th, Homeland Nickel President and CEO Steve Balch toured the Cleopatra Property (“Cleopatra”) with his consulting geologist and members of the United States Forest Service (the “Forest Service”). While the property is road accessible, the area is quite rugged and most of the property is accessible only by quad-runner or on foot. The Company defined fourteen (14) sonic drillhole collars and has since submitted a “Plan of Operations” to the Forest Service which is currently under review. The purpose of the drill program is to determine the approximate thickness of the nickel laterite at the south-end of the property currently accessible by existing trails. Exploration into the northern section of the property will require additional trails which will be subject to a future exploration permit to be submitted in 2025.

Previous exploration at Cleopatra identified a nickel resource from mainly hand-augered holes spaced over a grid of 300 ft by 300 ft. Seven hundred and forty-eight (748) individual auger holes were completed to an average depth of 8 ft below surface and to a maximum depth of 23.5 ft, with 1,135 samples taken for assay. The resource was produced by AJR Geoconsulting Inc. in 2009 and totaled 19.8 Mt of 0.94% nickel (Ni) in the measured and indicated categories and 19.7 Mt of 0.92% Ni in the inferred category for a total of 733 million pounds of contained nickel using a 0.7% Ni-cutoff. Although produced to National Instrument 43-101 standards the resource was never published and so is considered historical in nature.

Red Flat Property

During the week of July 15th – 21st, the Company visited the Red Flat Property (“Red Flat”) with the Forest Service to review road access and to locate up to 50 sonic drillhole locations for an exploration program scheduled for late summer, early fall 2024. The property is road accessible across its entire length via a well-maintained gravel road with several unmaintained trails extending across the property to provide excellent overall access. Of historical significance was the presence of several large trenches (see Figure 1) that are thought to have been excavated during the 1950s by the United States Government (possibly the United States Geological Survey) where nickel laterite was exposed for vertical thicknesses up to 15 ft.

Previous exploration at Red Flat in 2007-2008 identified a historical nickel resource of 10.4 Mt at 0.84% Ni of measured and indicated plus 8.3 Mt at 0.80% Ni of inferred for a total of 317 million pounds of contained nickel using a 0.7% Ni-cutoff (AJR Consulting Inc., 2009).

A total of forty-four (44) sonic drillhole locations were spotted and photographed and a subsequent Plan of Operations has been submitted to the Forest Service for approval. The purpose of this drill program is to determine the vertical extent of the nickel laterite along both a north-south and east-west corridor in an area with good road access.

Eight Dollar Mountain

A half-day visit was conducted at the Eight Dollar Mountain Property (“Eight Dollar”) which is located just west of the town of Selma, Oregon and with good road access. Nickel laterite was observed exposed across much of the property. A sampling program is contemplated for 2025 and would consist of several shallow excavations using hand tools such as a pickaxe and shovel to uncover the nickel laterite and provide undisturbed samples of approximately 500 g each for assaying. Historic exploration at Eight Dollar has confirmed nickel laterite over a very wide area of variable grade. Homeland Nickel staked 115 mining claims totalling 2,376 ac in 2024 and owns a 100% interest in the property.

Shamrock Property

A half-day visit was conducted at the Shamrock Property (“Shamrock”), which consists of 40 mining claims totalling 758 ac, primarily to determine access to the property. Shamrock is located 20 miles northwest of Medford, Oregon. Access was found to be good with a local gravel road extending into the property from a paved highway to within a few hundred meters of the historical workings. Future exploration at Shamrock is planned for 2025 and will include outlining the historical workings and outcrop sampling. This property was explored in 1952-53 and a bulk sample of 200-lb was removed and assayed 1.3% Ni, 1.1% Cu and 0.03 oz/t Pt. High-grade manganese was also removed and processed with assays returning 23.1-32.3% Mn. Shamrock is considered a high-grade nickel sulphide prospect, 100% owned by Homeland Nickel.

Benton Joint Venture

In August 2023, Homeland Nickel and Benton signed an exploration agreement (see press release August 17, 2023) whereby Benton could earn a 70% interest in the Great Burnt Copper and South Pond copper and Gold Projects (the “Newfoundland Projects”) 100% held by Homeland Nickel and located in Newfoundland, Canada. Benton was required to spend $2.5 million in exploration expenditures and issue to Homeland Nickel 15 million common shares of Benton (TSX-V:BEX).

On July 17, 2024, Benton press released it had fulfilled its exploration expenditure commitments and would be vesting its 70% interest in the Newfoundland Projects. Homeland Nickel will fund its 30% interest going forward and may elect to sell its interest to a third party or directly to Benton under favorable economic terms as the Company continues to focus on nickel in Oregon.

Corporate Update

During June and July of 2024, Homeland Nickel successfully negotiated with six of the seven minority shareholders of Homeland Nickel Corporation. (the US subsidiary holding the rights to the mining claims at Cleopatra and Red Flat) that increases Homeland Nickel’s ownership to 98.5% (from the previous 80%). The Company was also able to obtain a full release from all parties who elected to receive common shares in the Company (TSX-V:SHL) which in aggregate will not exceed 4.8 million.

Commenting on the nickel properties in Oregon, President and CEO Steve Balch stated that “Overall we are very impressed with our nickel portfolio in Oregon. We observed extensive concentrations of nickel laterite at Cleopatra, Red Flat and Eight Dollar. While Cleopatra is by far the largest resource, access to the entire property will not be easy without some additional trail excavating and that will take permitting which takes some time. Red Flat is much more accessible so we will focus more there this year with an expanded program to increase the resources at both properties scheduled for 2025. We were also impressed with the amount of nickel laterite at Eight Dollar. It is also a very large property that will need some basic surface sampling to get us better focussed. Access is as good there as it is at Shamrock”.

“We also thank the minority shareholders of what was formerly Red Flat Nickel Corp. We have provided liquidity to these individuals in the form of Homeland Nickel common shares in return for their interest and a full release. Going forward we have no debt on these properties, and we now own a 98.5% interest in Cleopatra and Red Flat, up from the previous 80%. We will work to make that interest 100% over time.”

 

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Previously excavated trench at Red Flat showing nickel laterite at surface.

 

Qualified Person

Stephen J. Balch, P.Geo. (ON), the Company’s President and CEO and a “Qualified Person” under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical content of this press release.

About Homeland Nickel

Homeland Nickel is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company focused on critical metal resources with nickel projects in Oregon, United States and copper projects in Newfoundland, Canada. The Company also holds a significant portfolio of mining securities including 3.6 million shares of Canada Nickel Company Inc. (TSX-V:CNC), 10.0 million shares of Noble Mineral Exploration Inc. (TSX-V:NOB), 15.0 million shares of Benton Resources Inc. (TSX-V:BEX) and 2.5 million shares of Magna Terra Minerals Inc. (TSX-V:MTT). Homeland Nickel’s common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “SHL”. More detailed information can be found on the Company’s website at:

www.homelandnickel.com

Cautionary Statement

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

This news release contains statements that constitute “forward-looking statements”. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and include, but are not limited to, disclosure regarding possible events, that are based on assumptions and courses of action, and in certain cases, can be identified by the words “expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”, “estimates”, “projects”, “potential” and similar expressions, or that events or conditions “will”, “would”, “may”, “could” or “should” occur, or the negative forms of any of these words and other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements include statements related to future plans for the Company, and other forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are based on various assumptions including with respect to the anticipated actions of securities regulators, stock exchanges, and government entities, management plans and timelines, as well as results of operations, performance, business prospects and opportunities. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what the management of the Company believes are reasonable assumptions on the date of this news release, such assumptions may prove to be incorrect. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, they should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and they will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether such results will be achieved. A number of factors could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: an inability to develop and successfully implement exploration strategies; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the lack of available capital; impact of the evolving situation in Ukraine on the business of the Company; and other risks detailed from time-to-time in the Company’s ongoing filings with securities regulatory authorities, which filings can be found at www.sedarplus.ca. The Company cannot assure readers that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements in this press release. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, unless otherwise required by law.

Contact

Stephen Balch, President & CEO

Phone:        905-407-9586

Email:        steve@beci.ca