Canadian North Resources Reports Substantial Increase of Copper, Nickel, Cobalt, Palladium and Platinum NI 43-101 Compliant Mineral Resources for its 100% owned Ferguson Lake Project in Canada

Highlights

• A 172% increase of Indicated Mineral Resources to 66.1 million tonnes (Mt) containing 1,093 million pounds (Mlb) copper at 0.75%, 678Mlb nickel at 0.47%, 79Mlb cobalt at 0.05%, 2.34 million ounces (Moz) palladium at 1.10 g/t and 0.42Moz platinum at 0.19 g/t;
• 80% of the Indicated Mineral Resources is Open Pit with 52.7Mt at 0.65% Cu, 0.43% Ni, 0.05% Co, 0.97g/t Pd and 0.17% Pt;
• Inferred Mineral Resources of 25.9Mt containing 558Mlb copper at 0.98%, 333Mlb nickel at 0.58%, 40Mlb cobalt at 0.07%, 1.12Moz palladium at 1.43 g/t and 0.21Moz platinum at 0.25 g/t;
• Successful major upgrade of Mineral Resource tonnages from Inferred to Indicated category combined with continued expansion of overall Mineral Resource size along strike and down / up dip;
• Potential for continued Mineral Resource expansion along strike and at depth over the 15 km long main mineralized horizon and within the open satellite mineralized zones
  

TORONTO, March 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadian North Resources Inc. (“Canadian North” or the “Company”) (TSXV: CNRI; OTCQX: CNRSF; FSE: EO0 (E-O-zero)) is pleased to announce an updated Mineral Resource estimate (Table 1) for its 100% owned Ferguson Lake base metal (copper, nickel, cobalt) and platinum group metal (“PGM”, mainly palladium and platinum) project in Nunavut, Canada.

Table 1: 2024 Updated Mineral Resource Estimate

Dr. Kaihui Yang, President and CEO of Canadian North, commented: “We are excited at the substantial increase of the independent National Instrument 43-101 (NI43-101) Mineral Resource Estimate from that reported in 2022 (refer to “Independent Technical Report, Updated Mineral Resource Estimate, Ferguson Lake Project, Nunavut, Canada, Prepared by Ronacher McKenzie Geoscience Inc. and Francis Minerals Ltd ” filed by the Company to Sedar.com on July 13, 2022), completed by SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. (SRK) for the Ferguson Lake Project. This new Mineral Resource Estimate has demonstrated the project is one of the largest and highest-grade undeveloped critical mineral projects in North America. In particular, Canadian North believes the large and high-grade Open Pit Indicated Mineral Resource provides a solid base for the first development phase for building a potential producing mine. The Company is moving forward with further exploration and expansion of Mineral Resources, follow-up metallurgical testing and commencing economic evaluation and infrastructure and enviormental studies for a low-carbon footprint mine development plan at the Ferguson Lake Project.”

Dr. Trevor Boyd, the Company’s Technical Advisor, commented: “This revised Mineral Resource estimate is based on the updated exploration drillhole database including results from the Company’s drilling programs in 2022-23. This Mineral Resource estimate incorporates parts of the known 15-kilometre-long main mineralized belt, excluding the outside satellite mineralized zones; M-Zone, A51 Zone, West Zone South, and the South Discovery Zone. Although the project contains measurable rhodium, gold and silver values in multiple mineralized zones, these commodities are not included in the Mineral Resource modelling primarily due to the lack of systematic assay results. The Mineral Resource model and updated exploration database indicate significant potential for Mineral Resource expansion along strike and at depth over the 15-kilometre-long mineralized belt and its satellite zones.”

Mineral Resource Estimation Notes

• The Mineral Resource estimation work including construction of geological solids, grade estimation, associated sensitivity analyses, and Mineral Resource classification was completed by Joycelyn Smith, P.Geo. (PGO#2963), under supervision of Mr. Glen Cole, P.Geo. (PGO#1416), an appropriate independent Qualified Person as this term is defined in National Instrument 43-101.
• The Mineral Resources have been estimated in conformity with generally accepted Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM) Estimation of Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserves Best Practices Guidelines (November 2019) and are reported in accordance with the Canadian Securities Administrators’ National Instrument (NI) 43-101.
• Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and have not demonstrated economic viability. All figures are rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate.
• A total of 18 massive sulphide and two low-sulphide platinum group element (LSPGE) domains were modeled within an overall host gabbroic intrusion to constrain the mineralization.
• The Mineral Resources for the Ferguson Lake Project are estimated based 756 boreholes (approximately 226,167 metres) as of November 2, 2023, including 129 boreholes (approximately 35,775 meters) added to the deposit model out of the 39,270 metres completed since the previous Mineral Resource update as on June 13, 2022 (refer to “Independent Technical Report, Updated Mineral Resource Estimate, Ferguson Lake Project, Nunavut, Canada, Prepared by Ronacher McKenzie Geoscience Inc. and Francis Minerals Ltd ” filed by the Company to Sedar.com on July 13, 2022).
• All composites have been capped where appropriate.
• The Mineral Resources for the Ferguson Lake Project were estimated using Leapfrog Edge™ software. The estimation parameters consider 3 passes estimated by Ordinary Kriging with progressively relaxed criteria, including a requirement of 3-4 boreholes in the first pass, 2-3 boreholes in the second pass and at least 4 composites in the third pass. Massive sulphide domains were estimated with hard boundaries, and LSPGE domains were estimated with limited (10m) soft boundaries.
• The block classification strategy considers drillhole spacing, geologic confidence and continuity of category. Indicated Mineral Resources were defined for blocks inside geological resource solids estimated within the first two passes and having a nominal drillholes spacing less than 150 metres. Classification results were smoothed to improve continuity.
• Mineral Resources are reported in relation to a conceptual pit shell and underground mining shapes. Open pit Mineral Resources include all blocks inside the conceptual shell. Underground mineral resources include blocks not meeting open pit reporting requirements contained within conceptual mining shapes.
• Open pit Mineral Resources are reported at a NSR cut-off value of US$33.00 and underground mineral resources are reported at a NSR cut-off value of US$96.00. Cut-off values are based on a price of US$4.00 per pound of copper, US$9.00 per pound of nickel, US$22.00 per pound of cobalt, US$1,250 per ounce of palladium, and US$1,150 per ounce of platinum, and recoveries of 95 percent for copper, 51 percent for nickel, 89 percent for cobalt, 76 percent for palladium and 60 percent for platinum for massive sulphide material, and 78 percent for copper, 29 percent for nickel, 48 percent for cobalt, 60 percent for palladium and 70 percent for platinum for LSPGE material, for open pit and underground resources.
• The reported Mineral Resource is inclusive of East, Central and West zones along the 15km-long main mineralized horizon.
  

This updated Mineral Resources Estimation reports a 172% increase from 24.3 million tonnes to 66.1 million tonnes in the Indicated Mineral Resources, in comparison to the 2022 Mineral Resources NI43-101 Technical Report (refer to “Independent Technical Report, Updated Mineral Resource Estimate, Ferguson Lake Project, Nunavut, Canada, Prepared by Ronacher McKenzie Geoscience Inc. and Francis Minerals Ltd” filed by the Company on sedar.com on July 13, 2022). The results also demonstrate the continued overall expansion of the Mineral Resources particularly within the Central and West Zones along strike and up and down dip.

The 2022 Mineral Resource Estimate considered recoveries derived from hydrometallurgical testworks to produce the metal products of copper, nickel, cobalt, palladium and platinum. The revised 2024 Mineral Resource Estimate outlined here considers an independent review of recoveries and mineral deportment studies by SRK derived from flotation metallurgical testworks, completed by the Company since 2013, to produce potentially saleable copper, nickel and PGM concentrates.

NI 43-101 Technical Report

A technical report on the resource estimates, which is being prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"), will be available on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) under the Company's issuer profile within 45 days. The effective date of the current Mineral Resource Statement is March 19, 2024.

Qualified Person

The technical contents of this news release have been reviewed by Dr. Trevor Boyd, P.Geo., a qualified person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101 standards.

About Canadian North Resources Inc.

Canadian North Resources Inc. is an exploration and development company focusing on the critical metals for the clean-energy, electric vehicles, battery and high-tech industries. The company is advancing its 100% owned Ferguson Lake nickel, copper, cobalt, palladium, and platinum project in Nunavut, Canada.

Further information please visit the website at www.cnresources.com or contact:

Dr. Kaihui Yang, President and CEO

Phone: 905-696-8288 (Canada) 1-888-688-8809 (Toll-Free)

Email: info@cnresources.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this news release, including statements which may contain words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “estimates”, or similar expressions, and statements related to matters which are not historical facts, are forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements, which reflect management’s expectations regarding the Company’s future growth, results of operations, performance, business prospects and opportunities, are based on certain factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company’s forward-looking statements. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained in this news release and the documents incorporated by reference herein are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct. In addition, although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any future revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as expressly required by law.