Talon Metals Corp. (TSX: TLO), the majority owner and operator of the Tamarack Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Project located in central Minnesota, has confirmed the presence of high-grade nickel in the newly discovered “Raptor Zone”. With grades up to 6.93% nickel intersected, Talon believes it has confirmed a new “system” of high-grade nickel-copper mineralization within the Tamarack Intrusive Complex.

Talon has been advancing its dual strategy of new exploration along the Tamarack Intrusive Complex and progressing the requisite drilling, data collection, modelling, and engineering studies and designs to commence the environmental review process that starts the permitting process in the state of Minnesota. The company is also progressing planning, design and permitting of its Battery Minerals Processing Facility in Mercer County, North Dakota, which was selected by the US Department of Energy for $114m in grant funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in October 2022.

Talon CEO, Henri van Rooyen, commented in a press release: “Today’s assay results further demonstrate that the United States has additional high-grade nickel growth potential in its mineral endowment. In 1997, the Department of the Interior and US Geological Survey predicted that there were high-grade nickel mineralization zones in the US that are similar to zones in Canada and Russia. They focused on the US Mid-Continental Rift (MCR), which extends from Kansas up through Michigan. Talon is singularly focused on exploring for additional high-grade nickel in the United States to help meet the goals set by Congress and President Biden for a domestic supply chain for electric vehicles and batteries from mining through to recycling.”

Assay results have been received for the six holes in the newly identified Raptor Zone, located nearly 2 miles (3.2 km) outside of the Tamarack Nickel Project’s resource area. These assays confirm that high-grade nickel mineralization exists well outside the Tamarack Nickel Project’s resource area in the largely unexplored Raptor Zone.

Talon believes it has confirmed a new “system” of high-grade nickel-copper mineralization within the Tamarack Intrusive Complex and is planning to drill an additional 20,000 meters within the Raptor Zone to determine if the 1-2 meters of identified high-grade massive nickel sulphide mineralization further thickens. During the winter drilling program, Talon had two drill rigs focused solely on exploration drilling, with a total of eight drill rigs operating.

Exploration drilling during the winter season has also focused on drilling various geophysical targets located within and outside of Tamarack Nickel Project’s resource area, and drilling of these targets remains ongoing. With the completion of the company’s winter drilling program, Talon has plans for additional exploration drilling, with three to four drill rigs turning for the remainder of 2023. Exploration will focus on further drilling within the new Raptor Zone, with an additional 20,000 meters of drilling planned. Additionally, the company plans to drill between 3,000-5,000 meters in an area located approximately 1 km south of the Tamarack Nickel Project’s resource area, where historic high-grade massive nickel sulphides have been identified but not yet followed up on.

Table 1: Notable Assay Results from New Drill Holes in the Raptor Zone