Mr. Ian Fraser reports

FATHOM ANNOUNCES THE START OF WINTER TRAIL ACCESS TO THE GOCHAGER LAKE PROJECT

Fathom Nickel Inc. has been granted winter trail access to the Gochager Lake project.

The company has been granted permission to use the access road to the Roy-Lloyd mine currently under care and maintenance. From the mine site north to Benjamin Lake, crews will initially flag the approved trail and then commence the preparation of the trail with the aim to complete the trail to Benjamin Lake by Christmas. Immediately following the holiday break, work will recommence to prepare existing historic trails between Benjamin and Bellows Lake, and provided the suitability of lake ice, ice roads on Benjamin Lake and Bellows Lake. Existing historic trails and ice roads will facilitate the transportation of drilling equipment to the project by mid-February, 2026. The company is in the process of arranging a drill contractor for the anticipated drill program.

Ahead of the proposed drilling program, and commencing in early January, the company will be conducting a low-frequency EM (electromagnetic) geophysical survey along strike of the historic Gochager Lake deposit. The survey will be a continuation of previous EM surveys over the now significantly expanded Ni-Cu-Co (nickel-copper-cobalt) geochemical footprint east-northeast of the deposit area (Fathom press release dated Nov. 3, 2025).

Ian Fraser, Fathom chief executive officer and vice-president, exploration, stated: "The winter trail into the Gochager Lake project is an important milestone for the company, providing synergies that will significantly reduce our all-in cost of exploration. The combination of permissions to access the Roy-Lloyd mine property from Highway 102, utilizing ice roads and historic trails overland will eliminate dependency on helicopter and dramatically reduce winter fixed-wing air support. This all leads to the ability to drill more meters at the project. We are confident that the January geophysical program will add to the list of untested surface EM conductors and provide further drill target definition in the prospective geochemical footprint east-northeast of the Gochager Lake deposit."

Qualified person and data verification

Ian Fraser, PGeo, chief executive officer, vice-president of exploration and a director of the company and the qualified person as such term is defined by National Instrument 43-101, has verified the data disclosed in this news release, and has otherwise reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release on behalf of the company.

About Fathom Nickel Inc.

Fathom is an exploration company that is targeting magmatic nickel sulphide discoveries to secure the supply of North American critical minerals and to support the global green energy transition. The company now has a portfolio of three high-quality exploration projects located in the prolific Trans Hudson corridor in Saskatchewan:

1) The Albert Lake project, a 90,000-plus-hectare project that hosts the historic Rottenstone mine. Fathom exploration to date at the Albert Lake project confirms:

• The high-grade Ni-Cu-Co+3E Rottenstone deposit mineralization extends to the south a minimum 40 metres and remains open.
• The Rottenstone deposit is potentially offset and continues within the footwall of a prominent fault defined by drilling.
• A new Rottenstone-like discovery (similar host rock, and similar mineralization) by drilling 500 to 550 metres west-northwest of the historic mine; the 300-plus m Bay Island trend, remains open along strike.
• Similar Rottenstone-like host rock and mineralization intersected by drilling approximately 1.5 km south-southwest of the historic mine (the Nic5-Tremblay-Olson area).

2) The 33,000+ hectare Gochager Lake project that hosts the historic Gochager Lake deposit. Fathom exploration to date at the Gochager Lake project confirms:

• Vertical extension of Ni-Cu-Co mineralization a minimum of 150 m below the historic Gochager Lake deposit interpreted boundary, and very good potential for expansion of mineralization in all directions.
• Multiple high-grade vertically oriented Ni-Cu-Co sulphide breccia mineralization zones and chutes occur within the historic deposit, and the zones, chutes remain open for further expansion and delineation in all directions.
• Surface mapping and rock geochemistry has confirmed the Gochager Lake deposit host/container rock extends 3.5-plus km along strike east-northeast of the deposit.
• Soil geochemistry has defined a favourable geochemical footprint, inclusive of the historic deposit, that now extends 8.6-plus km.

3) The 10,000-plus-hectare Friesen Lake project located 40 km southwest of the historic Rottenstone mine and 30 km northwest of the historic Gochager Lake deposit.

The Friesen Lake property hosts the Olsen Cu-Ni-Pt showing also referred to as the Friesen Lake Cu-Ni-Pt showing and is described as an ultramafic dike that historic trenching and drilling demonstrates Cu-Ni-Pt-Pd and Au mineralization within the ultramafic dike (Saskatchewan Mineral Deposit Index (SMID) No. 0928a). To date Fathom has not performed any exploration at the Friesen Lake project.

We seek Safe Harbor.