FPX Nickel Corp. [TSXV: FPX; OTCQB: FPOCF] reported the completion of drilling programs at the Baptiste Nickel Project in central British Columbia. The previously announced programs mark the most active campaign at Decar since 2021, with a focus on targeting the first phase completion of geomechanical, hydrogeological, and condemnation holes to complement the Project dataset for the feasibility study and the company’s planned entry into the environmental assessment (EA) process in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Highlights: Drilling completed pursuant to the receipt of multi-year area-based permit from the province of British Columbia which covers all anticipated Baptiste field activities required for the feasibility study (FS).
Approximately 1,935 metres of geomechanical, hydrogeological, and condemnation drilling was completed around the project site with most of the meterage focused within the open-pit footprint, tangibly achieving the objectives of the program with focus on long-lead data collection for the EA and FS.
Over 75% of fieldwork expenditures was disbursed under the terms of contracts awarded to First Nations-owned or -affiliated businesses operating in central British Columbia.
“The 2025 field program achieved all objectives in building a robust dataset for Baptiste to support both the feasibility study and the commencement of the environmental assessment process,” said Martin Turenne, FPX’s President and CEO. “We are particularly pleased with the deepening of our relationships with the multiple First Nations communities connected to the project, in particular through helping to ensure that those communities maximize their current and future economic participation in the company’s work programs.”
Feasibility Study Field Work Investigations: In connection with the environmental and cultural baseline study works ongoing at Baptiste since 2022, FPX has completed the first phase of FS engineering field work investigations. This year’s program was focused on long-lead data collection that will tangibly support the EA process, as well as improved engineering definition within the open-pit footprint.
Approximately 1,935 metres of geomechanical drilling, hydrogeological drilling, and condemnation drilling was completed around the project site during this year’s program, with most of the meterage focused within the open-pit footprint. This meterage strategically achieved the program objectives of initial FS engineering information gathering and will inform the next phase of the field investigation.
The next phase of the FS engineering field investigation program will include resource in-fill drilling, further geomechanical drilling, further hydrogeological drilling, and ex-pit geotechnical drilling. Following the completion of the second phase of engineering field investigations, the FS is expected to be completed in 2027.
Cultural and environmental baseline studies have been ongoing for the Baptiste Nickel Project since early 2022 and include surface water hydrology and water quality, wildlife, vegetation, fisheries and aquatics, and archeology programs. Ongoing and expanded programs have been completed in 2024 and 2025 in preparation for the EA process, including ongoing wildlife, vegetation, geochemistry, climate, hydrology, water quality, and hydrogeology work.
The cultural and environmental studies for the project are being conducted by local First Nations-owned and -affiliated businesses. This approach targets the integration of First Nations perspectives into the scoping and execution of these studies and provides a strong collaborative basis for the EA process, which the Company plans to initiate in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The company’s Baptiste Nickel Project represents a large-scale greenfield discovery of nickel mineralization in the form of a sulphur-free, nickel-iron mineral called awaruite (Ni3Fe) hosted in an ultramafic/ophiolite complex. The absence of sulphur and our ability to connect to the BC Hydro grid means that Baptiste has the potential to be one of the lowest carbon-intensive nickel producers in the world and will produce a very high-grade product that does not require any intermediate smelting or complex refining.
The Baptiste mineral claims cover an area of 453 km2 west of Middle River and north of Trembleur Lake, in central British Columbia. In addition to the Baptiste Deposit itself, awaruite mineralization has been confirmed through drilling at several target areas within the same claims package, most notably at the Van Target which is located 6 km to the north of the Baptiste Deposit. Since 2010, approximately US$55 million has been spent on the exploration and development of Baptiste.
FPX has conducted mineral exploration activities to date subject to the conditions of agreements with First Nations and keyoh holders. In 2024, the Province of British Columbia identified the Baptiste Nickel Project as the first project to be included in the province’s new Critical Minerals Office (CMO) concierge service initiative, a provincial strategy action to enable the prioritization of critical minerals projects in B.C.
