Nickel Creek Platinum: Promising Nickel Development Opportunity, But Significant Hurdles Remain

• Nickel Creek Platinum (NCP) is one of the world's largest deposits of nickel, copper, cobalt, and PGM with a project located in the Yukon.
• The company's shift in focus over the past year has been towards treating it primarily as a nickel project, with 55% of its value derived from nickel.
• The team consists of seasoned professionals with experience from major companies like Inco and Vale, and they may possess the expertise to potentially take the project to production.
• The Wellgreen deposit has substantial resources, including 850,000 tons of nickel and 5.8 million troy ounces of PGMs, indicating the potential for a long-term operation.
• While NCP has seen a decline in share prices, the team believes that with the increasing global demand for nickel, especially for electric vehicles.

Nickel Creek Platinum Corp (TSX: NCP, OTCQB: NCPCF) is advancing the large-scale Wellgreen platinum group metals-nickel-copper project in the Yukon, Canada. With nickel fundamentals strengthening in recent years thanks to growing electric vehicle demand, NCP is positioning Wellgreen as a potential future North American source of nickel supply.

However, Wellgreen is still in the early stages of development. While the deposit boasts sizeable resources, NCP has considerable work ahead to demonstrate Wellgreen is economically and technically feasible. Financing also remains a challenge for the small company. Investors will need to monitor NCP's progress on key upcoming milestones.

Wellgreen's Resource Offers Potential of Long Mine Life

Wellgreen hosts the potential for a sizable mineral resource, including:

• 323 million tons of measured and indicated resources grading 0.26% nickel (850,000 tons nickel)
• 500,000 tons copper and 5.8 million ounces palladium+platinum+gold

The large tonnage supports a potential mine life exceeding 25 years based on NCP's preliminary projections. The total resource also equates to 0.5% nickel equivalent grade when including by-product credits, which NCP believes is economic for a large, bulk mineable deposit.

According to NCP CEO Stuart Harshaw, the scale of Wellgreen makes it one of the world’s largest undeveloped nickel-copper-cobalt-PGM deposits. The majority of the asset value (55%) is derived from nickel, with platinum group metals responsible for around 25% of the total value.

Location in Mining-Friendly Yukon Province

Wellgreen is located in Yukon, Canada, which CEO Harshaw points out is a mining-friendly jurisdiction with established infrastructure. The project is accessible by road, rail and power. Being in Canada could also make Wellgreen's metal production attractive to US electric vehicle companies looking to source nickel and copper domestically, suggests Harshaw.

Metallurgy Appears Favorable But Further Testing Required

Initial metallurgical test work indicates Wellgreen mineralization can be concentrated into saleable nickel and copper concentrates at reasonable recoveries. More detailed metallurgical testing is needed to confirm this.

Wellgreen's low-grade nature means a very large processing plant is required, likely at least 45,000 tons per day throughput based on NCP's preliminary estimates. This has capital cost implications that NCP will need to continue evaluating.

Proposed Open Pit Development Carries Technical Risks

The Wellgreen deposit starts at the surface, allowing NCP to target an open pit mine. However, sizable stripping ratios and geotechnical conditions related to proposed 400-500m deep open pits present risks needing further evaluation. NCP plans additional geotechnical drilling in 2022 to gather pit slope data ahead of a pre-feasibility study.

PFS an Important Next Step

A pre-feasibility study is viewed as a crucial next milestone for NCP to signal Wellgreen is making real development progress. NCP is aiming to complete a PFS in early 2023. The study should provide key details on project parameters, mining plans, capital/operating costs and economics.

NCP states it has already conducted substantial engineering and metallurgical work, which will help expedite the PFS. Some additional confirmatory drilling and geotechnical work is also required.

Financing Critical to Advance Wellgreen

NCP last raised C$3.6M in April 2022 and has around C$4M cash currently. The company estimates roughly C$15-20M is required to complete the PFS. Additional financing will be needed in early 2023.

Beyond the PFS, NCP will require substantial capital to advance Wellgreen to construction. The company's market capitalization presently sits at only around C$35M. While major shareholders such as Electrum Group (31% stake) and Resource Capital Funds have provided loyal support to date, dilutive financings appear likely unless NCP can attract a new strategic partner.

CEO Brings Big Company Experience

Stuart Harshaw took the NCP CEO role in late 2021, bringing over 25 years of experience in senior roles at mining majors Vale and Inco. Harshaw aims to leverage this background to help position NCP and Wellgreen for the project's next stage of development.

Harshaw has assembled an experienced team to advance Wellgreen, including several other ex-Vale/Inco personnel. However, NCP's exploration budget and activity is currently constrained while the focus is on the PFS. Any exploration success would take time to incorporate into project development plans.

Upside Potential, But Key Milestones Remain

NCP's vision is to transform Wellgreen into a major new North American nickel producer, supplying the rapidly growing battery metals market. Wellgreen boasts attributes such as size, grade and location that could make this vision a reality.

However, NCP still has much work to do to prove Wellgreen's viability and secure the considerable financing required to advance the project. Completing the PFS is the critical next step on this path. Wellgreen remains a speculative, early-stage development opportunity. Investors need to watch closely as NCP aims to de-risk Wellgreen over the next 12-18 months.

5 key takeaways for cautious investors regarding the risks and potential of investing in Nickel Creek Platinum:

1. Large but low-grade resource. Wellgreen hosts over 800kt contained nickel, which is substantial. However, the average grade is just 0.26% nickel, requiring a very large mine (and capex bill) to be economic.
2. Metallurgy looks decent so far. Initial met test work shows the ability to produce clean, saleable nickel and copper concentrates. More detailed work is needed to confirm recoveries.
3. Open pit mining carries risks. Proposed 400-500m deep open pits have technical challenges requiring further geotech study. Significant stripping ratios are expected.
4. to proveStill early stage. Wellgreen is only at the PEA level currently. A pre-feasibility study is not due until 2023. Financing ability remains unproven.
5. Valuation disconnect. NCP's current ~C$35M market cap is a fraction of Wellgreen's potential value if developed. But reaching that value requires major de-risking milestones.

The bottom line is Wellgreen offers substantial long-term upside if NCP can continue advancing the project technically and financially. However, it remains a high-risk, speculative investment at the current stage. Cautious investors may prefer to wait for derisking milestones like the PFS.