First Nickel Inc. announced that Mark E. Isto has joined the company as Vice President Operations. During Mr. Isto's 30 year career in mining he has held a number of progressively senior positions in operations and project management at two major mining companies, including head of technical services, project manager, mine general manager, and Senior Vice President of expansion projects and mining. He was most recently Senior Vice President of Infrastructure Projects at Kinross Gold Corp. Mr. Isto holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mining engineering from the Montana College of Mineral Science & Technology and a Masters in Business Administration degree from the University of Nevada - Reno.