A technical report (the ‘Report') entitled ‘NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Portsoy Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Exploration Project, Aberdeenshire, Scotland', prepared under the supervision of independent Qualified Person Mr. Richard Siddle, MSc, MGeol, MAIG, Director and Principal Consultant of Addison Mining Services, UK, will be posted on the Company's website and SEDAR+ page.
The Report finds that historical exploration completed in the 1970s identified significant Ni and Cu sulphide mineralization and that more recent drilling completed by Peak Nickel confirmed the tenor of these results and further identified the presence of Co associated with the Ni-Cu mineralisation. The Report concludes that further exploration is warranted and recommends conducting a minimum 1,000 m diamond drilling programme to test down-dip and along strike extensions of mineralization at the North and South Zones at the Rodburn Target. As well as conducting downhole electromagnetic surveys to identify additional drill targets, initial metallurgical testwork is also recommended. The budget for the recommended work is estimated to be CAD$560,000.
Richard Williams, CEO of Winshear, stated "We are excited to move on from the approval process and to start the next phases of work at the Rodburn Target within the Portsoy Project. We anticipate commencing the recommended work in Q1 2026. The Portsoy Project represents a tremendous opportunity to develop a new nickel, copper, cobalt project in Scotland."
The Portsoy Project Overview and History
The Portsoy Project includes the Rodburn Target, discovered in the early 1970s by Exploration Ventures Ltd (EVL), a Goldfields / Rio Tinto joint venture company.
EVL drilled 26 holes (4,115m) at Rodburn, outlining a northeast trending, northwest dipping sheet of sulphide mineralisation (now named the South Zone), intersecting massive, semi-massive and disseminated nickel and copper sulphide mineralisation hosted within a mafic / ultramafic intrusive complex. Cobalt was not assayed for. (Wilks, G.F. (1974)1; Wilks, G.F. and Smith, M.R.M. (1976)2. Note - the EVL drilling is historic in nature and is only used for reference purposes.
EVL's programme was halted in the mid 1970s due to legal issues and was forgotten about for the next 50 years.
The independent Qualified Person has inspected a range of the historic EVL drill core stored at the British Geological Survey in the UK, as well as the recent drilling of Peak Nickel, and found that visually mineralized sulphide intervals correlated well with results. It is also noted that historic drill core was not systematically sampled, focusing on massive to semi massive mineralisation and in places leaving disseminated sulphide unsampled.
Between 2019 and 2022 Peak Nickel secured exploration and 100-year mining lease agreements with the landowners to conduct work over the Rodburn target.
Between 2023 and 2024 Peak Nickel completed 3,697.5m of drilling in 24 drill holes testing two zones, North (2 holes) and South (22 holes), expanding the extents of the Rodburn Target (see Table 1 below) and confirming the presence of cobalt mineralisation.
Mineralisation in the South Zone is open down dip. Historic drilling to the west appears to close off mineralisation although drillholes were not systematically sampled and as such extension may be possible along strike in both directions. The North Zone is open laterally with a single non-sampled historic drillhole closing off the current interpretation to the east; further drilling may allow extension in this area in all directions considering the non-systematic sampling and limited number of drillholes.
South Zone mineralisation is modelled from 5-10 m from surface to 170-200 m from surface, the unit dips 40-45° to the north-northwest for up to 220-280 m of down dip extension with thickness varying from 4-12 m with subordinate narrow units of 2-3 m. The strike length is currently modelled at approximately 400 m.
Mineralisation in the North Zone is modelled from approximately 25 m from surface to 70 m from surface, the unit is sub horizontal and hosted in peridotite. The surface expression modelled is approximately 170 by 190 m with thickness up to 24 m interpreted in the south of the unit and two splaying units with thickness 8-10 m interpreted in the north of the area.
Selected intercepts from the Peak Nickel drilling include:
Hole ID
From (m)
To (m)
Length (m)
True Thickness Estimated (m)
Ni %
Cu %
Co ppm
NiEq %*
RBD001
40.52
53
12.48
12.4
0.63
0.54
403
0.97
inc.
45
51
6
5.9
0.95
0.75
601
1.42
RBD002
50.6
86
35.4
24.1
0.71
0.31
473
0.93
inc.
70
82
12
8.9
1.42
0.55
929
1.82
RBD003
103.94
118
14.06
5.9
0.34
0.40
242
0.58
