Swiss Steel Group and Canada Nickel Company Announce Intention to Establish an Exclusive Long-term Low-CO2 Steel Partnership

Canada Nickel Company Inc. (TSXV: CNC; OTCQB: CNIKF) and Swiss Steel Group announced an intention to establish a long-term strategic partnership for the supply of low-carbon semi-finished steel products. The companies signed a framework agreement on October 23, 2026, two days prior to the public release of the announcement.

Under the envisaged partnership, Swiss Steel Group would gain exclusive access to approximately 1,000,000 tonnes per year of semi-finished steel products, including billets and blooms, for further processing into specialty steel. Supply is scheduled to begin from 2030. An initial supply concept has been developed and technically validated for facilities located in the United States, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, and France.

Canada Nickel’s role in the arrangement is downstream rather than mine-level. Its wholly owned subsidiary, NetZero Metals, would transform Crawford concentrates into a finished nickel product and convert nickel-chromium magnetite concentrate into low-carbon, potentially net-zero, semi-finished stainless and specialty steel products.

Swiss Steel cited the need to focus its own industrial footprint, secure flexible access to competitive low-carbon pre-material, and strengthen network flexibility as reasons for the partnership. For Canada Nickel, the rationale includes value-added domestic production rather than raw energy or commodity export, unlocking European critical minerals funding support for the project, and advancing the Crawford project toward a construction decision in 2027. George Pirie, Ontario Minister of Northern Economic Development and Growth, provided a political endorsement, though no funding commitment was attached.

The agreement does not include a purchase price, price formula, take-or-pay clause, minimum volume commitment, capital contribution, or capex figure for NetZero Metals. There is no date set for a definitive agreement, nor is there a specified funding amount from European sources. The release included conventional cautionary language, noting there are no assurances that Crawford will be placed into production, that the company will be able to repay loans, that it will be able to raise funds, or that operations will be profitable.

Canada Nickel Company Inc. (CNC) announced a framework agreement with Swiss Steel to commercialize low-carbon stainless and alloy intermediates, marking a step forward in the company’s strategy to develop downstream processing capabilities. The agreement outlines an intention to supply one million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of finished steel, with first supply targeted for 2030. This development follows a memorandum of understanding signed on July 6, 2026, with RWE Supply & Trading, which also aimed to commercialize low-carbon intermediates and targeted a definitive agreement later in 2026. The current release provides no update on the status of that RWE definitive agreement, which was a stated 2026 deliverable.

The proposed steel supply chain is derived from the magnetite and chromite by-product stream at the Crawford project, rather than the primary nickel concentrate. According to the company’s investor presentation, the Crawford life-of-mine output is estimated at approximately 1.6 Mtpa of iron and 76,000 tonnes per annum (ktpa) of chromium. A 1 Mtpa finished-steel commitment would therefore utilize essentially all of the iron units from the by-product stream. The framework agreement does not disclose the capital cost of the downstream facility required to process these materials.

This announcement follows a series of non-binding framework and selection agreements as Canada Nickel assembles its supply chain. On July 31, 2026, the company received the federal Decision Statement, marking the first mining approval under the amended Impact Assessment Act since 2019. On September 14, 2026, Canada Nickel selected Komatsu and SMS Equipment for its fleet, with definitive agreements targeted for Q1 2027. The company also announced an equity raise between August 12 and 28, 2026, which was upsized to C$21 million at C$1.50 per unit, accompanied by half-warrants at C$2.25. Additionally, between July 23 and 28, 2026, the company reported resource growth at Nesbitt and Deloro and extended an Auramet loan to November 9, 2026, incurring fees of US$856,288 and issuing 5,500,000 warrants at $1.52.

The funding plan disclosed in the company’s materials, totaling approximately $2.5 billion, is scoped specifically to the Crawford project. It is split roughly between $1 billion in equity and $1.5 billion in debt, including up to US$600 million in investment tax credit monetization and a C$500 million Export Development Canada (EDC) support letter. The new framework with Swiss Steel introduces a second industrial project without a disclosed financing plan, partner capital contribution, or schedule. The release does not address the company’s near-term liquidity constraints or the November 9, 2026, maturity of the Auramet loan.

As reported in the Q3 2026 financial results for the nine months ended July 31, 2026, Canada Nickel recorded a net loss of C$20.55 million and interest expense of C$10.92 million year-to-date. The company held C$8.07 million in cash against total debt of C$60.61 million and total current liabilities of C$61.06 million. The most recent Management’s Discussion and Analysis filing disclosed a working capital deficit of C$47.4 million, an accumulated deficit of C$79.2 million, and an explicit going concern material uncertainty. The first production target for the Crawford project remains Q4 2029, following a 2027 final investment decision and a 27-month construction period. The company has not provided an update on the Samsung SDI nickel offtake or option structure.

Canada Nickel Company Inc. (TSXV: CNC; OTCQB: CNIKF), headquartered in Toronto, is a nickel-sulphide developer pursuing net-zero-carbon nickel, cobalt and iron products, with trademarks sought on NetZero Nickel, NetZero Cobalt and NetZero Iron. Its flagship asset is the 100%-owned Crawford Nickel Sulphide Project, located approximately 42 km north of Timmins, Ontario, in the Timmins-Cochrane mining camp and Ontario Critical Minerals Corridor. The site has direct access to road, rail, power and water. The company positions the project to serve nickel markets for electric vehicles and stainless steel, claiming it will become the Western world's largest nickel sulphide operation and North America's only primary source of chromium.

Through its downstream subsidiary, NetZero Metals, the company intends to convert Crawford concentrate into finished nickel and nickel-chromium magnetite concentrate into low-carbon stainless and specialty steel. The recent Swiss Steel framework represents the latest step in that downstream strategy.

According to the company's investor presentation, based on a Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) in November 2023 and Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) in 2025, the Crawford Proven & Probable reserves total 1,715 Mt grading 0.22% Ni, 0.013% Co, 1.4 g/t Pd, 0.9 g/t Pt, 6.44% Fe and 0.57% Cr, containing 3,789 kt of nickel. The project has a CO2 capture potential of 54 Mt. The FEED indicates a net present value (NPV) at an 8% discount rate of C$2.8 billion and an after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 17.6%. Initial capital expenditure is estimated at approximately C$2.0 billion, an increase of roughly 5% compared to the 2023 BFS, with pre-stripping reduced by 30%.

Life-of-mine net C1 cash costs are projected at US$0.39 per pound, with an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of approximately US$1.54 per pound, placing the project in the first quartile of cost producers. With CCUS tax credits included, the NPV rises to C$2.9 billion and the IRR to 18.9%. The mine life is 41 years. The production profile includes 26,000 tonnes per annum (ktpa) of nickel in Phase I, peaking at 48 ktpa in Phase II, dropping to 18 ktpa in Phase III, and averaging 38 ktpa over the life of the mine. By-products include approximately 0.8 ktpa of cobalt, 13,000 ounces per year of platinum group metals (PGMs), 1.6 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of iron, and 76 ktpa of chromium. The mill capacity is planned at 60,000 tonnes per day (tpd), expanding to 120,000 tpd.

Canada Nickel Company is a development-stage company with no historical production or revenue. In the broader district, nine published resource estimates exist for the Timmins Nickel District, showing Measured and Indicated resources of 4.36 billion tonnes (Bt) grading 0.24% Ni (10.29 Mt contained Ni) and Inferred resources of 5.70 Bt grading 0.23% Ni (13.17 Mt contained Ni), alongside several untested targets described as larger than Crawford.

Regarding permitting, the project was the first in Canada to submit an Impact Statement under the amended Impact Assessment Act in November 2024. In November 2025, it was referred to the federal Major Projects Office. By January 2026, it was named under Ontario's One Project, One Process framework as the second project. On July 31, 2026, the company received a positive federal Decision Statement. Permitting remains outstanding for provincial and federal construction permits, targeted for Q3 2027, and provincial operating permits, targeted for Q2 2029.