An anonymous director reports

FIRST ATLANTIC NICKEL & COBALT RAISES 6.15 MILLION DOLLARS IN NO-WARRANT, NON-BROKERED PRIVATE PLACEMENT TO ACCELERATE MINING EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT AT PIPESTONE XL NICKEL-COBALT ALLOY (AWARUITE) PROJECT IN NEWFOUNDLAND

First Atlantic Nickel & Cobalt Corp. has closed a non-brokered private placement, raising aggregate gross proceeds of $6,157,500 through the issuance of 8.21 million flow-through common shares at a price of 75 cents per FT share. The FT shares were issued on a flow-through basis pursuant to the Income Tax Act (Canada). No warrants were issued in connection with this closing.

The company's planned exploration program will focus on the approximately 30-kilometre mineralized trend at the Pipestone XL nickel-cobalt alloy project, extending from the RPM zone in the south to the historic Atlantic Lake zone in the north. Proceeds will finance follow-up and expansion drilling at the Alloy Max South and Alloy Max North zones, continued drilling at the RPM zone, and drilling at other targets that were previously accessible only by helicopter. Proceeds will also finance continued metallurgical recovery and processing testwork at the Alloy Max and RPM zones, as well as exploration of additional awaruite targets along the 30-kilometre trend, large parts of which could not be thoroughly explored before due to the lack of ground access.

To support the planned exploration program, proceeds will also finance continuing upgrades to project access trails, which are expected to enable year-round drilling through seasonal weather and provide new ground access to targets currently not accessible by ground and unexplored areas of the project, in each case to the extent the expenditures qualify as qualifying expenditures (as defined below).

First Atlantic welcomes calls directly from shareholders and prospective investors. For questions about the company or the Pipestone XL project, or simply to learn more, investors are invited to call Rob Guzman, investor relations, at 1-844-592-6337 or e-mail rob@fanickel.com.

The gross proceeds will be used to incur eligible Canadian exploration expenses that qualify as flow-through mining expenditures, as those terms are defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada), in connection with the exploration programs described above at the company's Pipestone XL nickel-cobalt alloy project and exploration activities at its Ophiolite X project in Newfoundland. The company will incur the qualifying expenditures on or before Dec. 31, 2027, and renounce them in favour of subscribers effective Dec. 31, 2026.

All securities issued in connection with this closing are subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day, expiring on Jan. 19, 2027, under applicable Canadian securities laws. The offering remains subject to final acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange.

No finders' fees were paid in connection with the offering.

Pipestone XL: a district-scale nickel-cobalt alloy project

Pipestone XL is First Atlantic's wholly owned, district-scale project spanning the entire 30-kilometre Pipestone Ophiolite complex in central Newfoundland, a belt of ultramafic rock enriched in nickel, cobalt and chromium. The project hosts multiple zones of awaruite (Ni3Fe) mineralization, including RPM, Alloy Max, Super Gulp, Atlantic Lake and Chrome Pond. The RPM zone is the most advanced, with drilling having outlined magnetically recoverable awaruite over more than 1.2 kilometres of strike and more than 800 metres of width. Drilling is continuing at Alloy Max, a second large-scale zone spanning approximately four kilometres of strike and up to 1.5 kilometres in width, making it larger than the RPM zone.

Awaruite at Pipestone XL is the product of serpentinization, which drives sulphur out of the system and leaves a sulphur-free alloy which carries no acid mine drainage risk and can be concentrated by the company's Onshore Max process without smelting, roasting or high-pressure acid leaching. This smelter-free pathway addresses the mid-stream bottleneck in North America, where the United States has no operating nickel smelters and only two remain in Canada, and supports a vertically integrated supply chain moving directly from mine to downstream battery refining, stainless steel and specialty alloy production. The company is also evaluating secondary chromium mineralization as a potential co-product, along with low-carbon engineered mineral hydrogen (EMH) in partnership with VEMA Hydrogen.

Pipestone XL is located in an established infrastructure corridor with year-round road access, nearby high-voltage transmission and clean hydroelectric power from the Bay d'Espoir generating station. It is also located approximately 200 kilometres from Gander International Airport and Vale's Long Harbour nickel processing plant. This positioning aligns with growing United States and allied policy focus on critical mineral supply chains, including nickel's addition to the U.S. critical minerals list in 2022, the January, 2026, White House proclamation on processed critical minerals, the company's acceptance into the U.S. Defense Industrial Base Consortium and the June, 2026, G7 Leaders' Declaration naming nickel one of two pilot critical minerals for allied investment and offtake.

Newfoundland and Labrador is consistently recognized as one of the world's leading mining jurisdictions in the Fraser Institute's Annual Survey of Mining Companies, ranking seventh globally on the Policy Perception Index in the most recent survey, published in February, 2026, and placing in the global top 10 for overall investment attractiveness in each of the three prior surveys. Pipestone XL is positioned to become a secure and reliable North American source of nickel and cobalt for the stainless steel, electric vehicle, aerospace and defence industries.

Awaruite at Pipestone XL: a smelter-free nickel-cobalt alloy (Ni3Fe)

Awaruite is a naturally occurring, magnetic, sulphur-free nickel-iron-cobalt alloy (Ni3Fe) containing approximately 77 per cent nickel. Because it already exists in a metallic state, awaruite can be concentrated without smelting, roasting or high-pressure acid leaching. Mineralogical and electron microprobe analysis at the company's RPM zone has confirmed the awaruite averages 77.62 per cent nickel and 1.69 per cent cobalt, with grades as high as 86.68 per cent nickel and 6.05 per cent cobalt.

Initial metallurgical testwork using the company's Onshore Max (magnetic alloy extraction) process upgraded rock samples from the project's RPM zone into a high-grade alloy concentrate averaging 67.4 per cent nickel and grading up to 71.9 per cent nickel and 1.76 per cent cobalt. Low-intensity magnetic separation first produced a magnetic concentrate grading approximately 1.6 per cent nickel, which flotation then upgraded to the final concentrate. By comparison, a typical nickel concentrate grades 10 per cent to 15 per cent nickel, according to the Nickel Institute. This concentrate can move directly to downstream battery chemical refining or the manufacture of specialty alloys and stainless steel.

The absence of sulphur reduces acid mine drainage risk and related permitting challenges, positioning Pipestone XL to supply North American industries including stainless steel, electric vehicles, aerospace and defence.

The company also announces that it has entered into a renewal agreement dated Sept. 17, 2026, with Xander Capital Partners Inc., effective April 2, 2026, in respect of its investor relations and marketing consulting agreement originally dated April 1, 2024, and previously renewed on April 1, 2025.

The renewal formalizes the continuation of the engagement following the expiry of the previous term on April 1, 2026. Payments to Xander have continued without interruption at the existing rate of $10,000 (U.S.) per month. Under the renewal, the engagement will continue on a continuing basis without a fixed expiry date, subject to either party's right to terminate upon 30 days' prior written notice. All other terms remain unchanged.

Xander's services include increasing brand awareness, facilitating introductions to industry participants and digital marketing professionals, and providing investor relations and corporate consulting support. The monthly fee covers services and management fees, with Xander providing weekly budget proposals and spending allocations. No securities will be issued as compensation under the renewal.

The renewal remains subject to acceptance by the exchange.

Investor information

The company's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol FAN, on the OTCQB under the symbol FANCF and on several German exchanges, including Frankfurt and Tradegate, under the symbol P210.

Qualified person

Adrian Smith, PGeo, a director and the chief executive officer of the company, is a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101. The qualified person is a member in good standing of the Professional Engineers and Geoscientists Newfoundland and Labrador (PEGNL) and is a registered professional geoscientist (PGeo). Mr. Smith has reviewed and approved the technical information disclosed herein.

About First Atlantic Nickel & Cobalt Corp.

First Atlantic Nickel & Cobalt is a critical mineral exploration company in Newfoundland and Labrador developing the Pipestone XL nickel-cobalt (Ni-Fe-Co) alloy project. The project spans the entire 30-kilometre Pipestone Ophiolite complex, where multiple zones, including RPM, Alloy Max, Super Gulp, Atlantic Lake and Chrome Pond, contain awaruite (Ni3Fe), a naturally occurring magnetic nickel-iron-cobalt alloy of approximately 77 per cent nickel with no sulphur and no sulphides, along with secondary chromium mineralization. Awaruite's sulphur-free composition removes acid mine drainage risk, while its magnetic properties enable processing through magnetic separation and flotation, eliminating the electricity requirements, emissions and environmental impacts of conventional smelting, roasting or high-pressure acid leaching, while reducing dependence on overseas nickel processing infrastructure.

The U.S. Geological Survey recognized awaruite's strategic importance in its 2012 Annual Report on Nickel, noting that these deposits may help alleviate prolonged nickel concentrate shortages since the natural alloy is much easier to concentrate than typical nickel sulphide. In 2026, initial metallurgical test work using the company's Onshore Max (magnetic alloy extraction) process upgraded RPM zone material into a high-grade alloy concentrate averaging 67.4 per cent nickel and grading up to 71.9 per cent nickel and 1.76 per cent cobalt, demonstrating a smelter-free, mine-to-refinery pathway. First Atlantic is a member of the U.S. Defense Industrial Base Consortium. The company is also advancing a parallel geologic hydrogen initiative at Pipestone XL, where the same serpentinization process that formed awaruite also generates natural hydrogen, and has signed a letter of intent with VEMA Hydrogen to jointly develop low-carbon engineered mineral hydrogen (EMH) through a proposed 50/50 joint venture. The Pipestone XL project is located near existing infrastructure with year-round road access and proximity to hydroelectric power, providing favourable logistics for exploration and future development, and strengthening First Atlantic's role to establish a secure and reliable source of North American nickel and cobalt production for the stainless steel, electric vehicle, aerospace and defence industries. This mission gained importance when the U.S. added nickel to its critical minerals list in 2022, recognizing it as a non-fuel mineral essential to economic and national security with a supply chain vulnerable to disruption.

We seek Safe Harbor.