Manitou Gold Inc. announced the identification of a naturally occurring nickel alloy mineral (awaruite) in discovery hole MTU-22-14, which returned 0.25% Ni over 48 metres. Geophysical interpretation has outlined 60 kilometres of structures hosting interpreted ultramafic intrusions with large tonnage nickel potential within the orogenic gold target area on 100% owned Manitou lands comprising the Goudreau project. Manitou Gold's Goudreau project is comprised of largely contiguous mineral claims and patents in the eastern Michipicoten gold belt in northern Ontario.

The Goudreau project is situated between Argonaut Gold's Magino mine (Proven and Probable Reserves: 2.1 Moz @ 1.13 g/t Au; M&I Resources: 4.2 Moz @ 0.91 g/t Au(1)) and Alamos Gold's Island Gold mine (Proven and Probable reserves: 1.3 Moz @ 10.12 g/t Au; M&I Resource: 0.3 Moz @ 6.8 g/t Au; Inferred Resource: 3.0 Moz @ 11.34 g/t Au(2)) to the west and, to the east, the past-producing Renabie mine (1.1 Moz @ 6.6 g/t Au(3)) owned by Barrick Gold. Major geological structures in the gold camp provide the main controls on gold mineralization and include the Goudreau-Lochalsh deformation zone ("GLDZ"), which hosts both the Island Gold and Magino deposits, and the Baltimore deformation zone (the "BDZ"), which represents the eastern fault offset extension of the GLDZ on Manitou ground. As the largest land holder in the belt, controlling 366 square kilometers of prospective mining lands surrounded by major gold deposits, Manitou is uniquely positioned for discovery of additional gold deposits in one of the fasted growing gold districts in North America.

In addition, recent exploration has highlighted the potential for large tonnage ultramafic hosted nickel deposits analogous to Dumont and Crawford. As reported on June 13 2022, Manitou intersected a 48 m wide interval of highly serpentinized ultramafic rocks grading 0.25% Ni and 100 ppm Co starting at 29.0 m after reaching bedrock. The hole was collared in nickel mineralization near the southern margin of the ultramafic intrusion and, therefore, did not intersect the full width of the nickel zone.

Geophysical interpretation suggests that, although well mineralized, the hole did not test the strongest portion of the nickel anomaly, which as such remains untested at this time. Preliminary results from a petrographic (microscopic) analysis of several core samples from hole MTU-22-14, grading between 0.28% and 0.25% Ni, determined that nickel is present mainly in the form of awaruite, a naturally occurring alloy of nickel and iron (or stainless steel), composed of up to 75% nickel and 25% iron. Ultramafic host rocks are extensively serpentinized and primary minerals are only rarely preserved.

Primary olivine is altered to an assemblage consisting of mainly serpentine, magnetite and accessory awaruite. Quantitative electron microprobe analysis of the samples is underway to confirm nickel and cobalt content of the metal alloy minerals. The key benefit of nickel-iron alloys ores over nickel-sulphide ores is that concentrates do not need smelting prior to further processing and shipping to refineries.

Sulphide free mine tailings would generally not be acid generating. In addition, ultramafic host rocks and their serpentine products have a unique potential to react with carbon dioxide in a process referred to as spontaneous carbonation which effectively removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Company considers its nickel mineralization discovered to date to be comparable to Canada Nickel's Crawford deposit, located in Timmins, and the Dumont nickel deposit, located in Quebec.

At both the Crawford and Dumont deposits, awaruite occurs as pervasively disseminated grains hosted in serpentinite. Although sulfides are widespread at both Dumont and Crawford, there are zones within both deposits where only awaruite is present.