First Nickel Hires New President & CEO and Announces $500,000 Private Placement

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Sept. 12, 2011) - First Nickel Inc. ("First Nickel" or the "Company") FNI is pleased to announce that it has hired Mr. Thomas M. Boehlert as its new President and Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") to replace Mr. William Anderson, who is retiring. In conjunction with his hiring, which is effective today, Mr. Boehlert has agreed to make a common share private placement of $500,000 in First Nickel and has been appointed a director of the Company. Pricing of the placement is $0.14 per share.

Mr. Boehlert was most recently Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President of Toronto and New York Stock Exchange listed Kinross Gold Corp between April 2006 and March 2011. The Company is pleased to have secured his services to guide First Nickel in its growth from imminent production at the Lockerby Mine toward becoming a significant mid-tier producer. During his 28 year career, Mr. Boehlert has had extensive experience with international natural resource and energy companies in optimizing operations and executing growth strategies.

Prior to his position at Kinross, Mr. Boehlert was Chief Financial Officer of three energy companies; Texas Genco in Houston, Centrica North America in Toronto, and Sithe Energies Inc., in New York. He also worked at Credit Suisse in New York and London for 14 years, primarily in investment banking and project finance. He began his career as an auditor at KMPG in New York. Mr. Boehlert received a BA in accounting from Indiana University and an MBA in finance from New York University.

Mr. Thomas Pugsley, Chairman of the Company commented: "I am very pleased to have a new, professionally and financially committed champion of First Nickel. At the same time, I am happy to have Mr. Anderson, a founding director of the Company and devoted colleague, continue as a director of the Company. Having attracted two major shareholders in the past three years, and secured both the equity and debt to fully finance the re-start of production at the Company's Lockerby Mine, he hands off a strong platform for growth to Mr. Boehlert as incoming CEO. We wish Mr. Anderson the very best in his retirement."

Mr. Anderson will continue as a director of First Nickel and will be available in a consulting role for a period of six months in order to facilitate a smooth transition of the position.

About First Nickel

First Nickel is a Canadian mining and exploration company that is about to resume 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.