First Nickel Hires New Head of Corporate Development

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 5, 2011) - First Nickel Inc. ("First Nickel" or the "Company") FNI is pleased to announce that it has hired Mr. Sean J.F. Samson as its new Vice President and Head of Corporate Development. This is a new position and reflects the Company's plans to grow the company well beyond its current, single operation.

Mr. Samson has more than 15 years of management experience working across a range of industries. Mr. Samson was most recently EVP of Pulse Energy Inc., an energy software company based in Vancouver. Prior to Pulse, he spent five years at Kinross Gold Corporation, as VP, Commercial Development. At Kinross, he had diverse, multi-functional responsibility which over five years included: supply chain, energy, continuous improvement, merger integration, enterprise risk and capital approvals. When he left Kinross, Sean was leading a team of more than 300 people across eight countries.

Previously Mr. Samson was Director of Strategy and M&A for Centrica North America, helped lead a federal election campaign, was a management consultant at Bain & Company and traded at investment banks in New York and Istanbul. Mr. Samson received his A.B. from Harvard University and an MBA from Cambridge University.

Mr. Thomas M. Boehlert, President and CEO of First Nickel commented: "I am very pleased to have Sean joining our executive team. I have worked closely with Sean for many years and know that he brings a deep and diverse set of skills to First Nickel, which we will be able to leverage as we bring the Lockerby mine back into production and assess growth opportunities. Sean is an action-oriented leader with great breadth who is able to persistently challenge the status quo, lead positive change and bring value to companies."

About First Nickel

First Nickel is a Canadian mining and exploration company that is in the process of resuming production at its Lockerby nickel / copper mine in the Sudbury Basin in northern Ontario. Once the Lockerby Mine reaches full production (expected in 2012), it will produce approximately 10 million pounds of nickel and approximately 7 million pounds of copper annually, providing a strong base of cash flow from which to grow the Company. In addition to the Lockerby nickel mine, the Company owns exploration properties in the Sudbury Basin, the Timmins region of northern Ontario, and the Belmont region of Eastern Ontario. First Nickel's shares are traded on the TSX under the symbol FNI.

Some of the statements contained in this news release are forward-looking statements that describe First Nickel's future plans, intentions, objectives or goals, and specifically include but are not limited to imminent production at the Lockerby Mine, and anticipated production rates at the Lockerby Mine. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "expects", "will", "enable", "anticipates", "estimated" or words of similar effect. Since forward-looking statements are not statements of historical fact and address future events, conditions and expectations, forward-looking statements inherently involve unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors well beyond the Company's ability to control or predict. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements depending on, among others, such key factors as fluctuating metal prices, maintaining operating and exploration teams, and other factors described in the Company's most recently filed Annual Information Form under the heading "Risk Factors" which has been filed electronically by means of the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval ("SEDAR") located at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements included in this document represent First Nickel's views as of the date of this document and subsequent events and developments may cause First Nickel's views to change. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing First Nickel's views as of any date subsequent to the date of this document. Although First Nickel has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements.