First Nickel Announces Increase to 2012 Exploration Program

TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 03/23/12 -- First Nickel Inc. ("FNI", or the "Company") (TSX: FNI) announces the details of its 2012 exploration program.

The board of directors has approved an increase in the 2012 exploration budget from $1.9 million to $3.4 million for work being conducted in 2012. The previously announced 2012 exploration budget was reported in a press release dated January 25, 2012.

The 2012 program has been designed with the objective of expanding the resource base within an under explored area near the Lockerby Mine and testing priority regional targets on the Southeastern Ontario properties.

Paul Davis, Vice President, Exploration commented, "This added funding demonstrates our commitment to growing the company through exploration. In addition, our objective for 2012 is to identify a pipeline of promising properties through exploration and acquisition that leverages our strong exploration and operating teams with the goal of expanding our operations beyond the Lockerby Mine."

The 2012 surface exploration programs consist of the following:

--  5,000 metres of surface drilling on the Link zone
--  3,000 metres of surface drilling on the Belmont Project
--  3,000 metres of surface drilling on the Raglan Hill Project

Drilling in Sudbury will focus on the Link zone with the objective of expanding upon the known intersections of mineralization down plunge of the Conwest Deposit. Surface drilling will explore for higher grade trends and improve our understanding of the mineralization associated within the area. The target area was broadly drilled by the company in 2008 and reported intersections of 1.82% Ni over 2.6 metres in FNI4002 and 1.33% Ni over 10.4 metres in FNI4003 as press released on November 7, 2008.

Drilling began in February on the Southeastern Ontario projects and focuses on systematically testing high priority airborne geophysical anomalies on the Belmont project. Work on the Raglan Hills project includes more detailed drilling on the ML North PGE zone, discovered in 2009 with reported intersections of 0.762 grams per tonne ("gpt") Pt and 1.216 gpt Pd over 5.05 metres in FNB009 and 0.659 gpt Pt and 1.052 gpt Pd in FNB010 as press released on August 5, 2009. Drilling will also test the eastern portion of the Henderson property targeting an ultramafic body with anomalous nickel and copper mineralization in an ultramafic body with an associated magnetic high and coincident, 700 metres long, VTEM electromagnetic anomaly.

As a standard practice, selected diamond drill holes will be tested using the latest in borehole geophysical techniques. Field mapping and sampling programs will be completed on the Southeastern Ontario projects during the summer.

The Company continues to review a number of potential opportunities and seeks to add to our base metal portfolio through acquisitions of promising exploration properties and operating mines.

The information in this release was prepared under the direction of Paul Davis, P.Geo., Vice President Exploration for First Nickel Inc., a "qualified person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About First Nickel

First Nickel is a Canadian mining and exploration company. The Company's mission is to be the most dynamic North American emerging base metal mining company in which to work and invest and to be respected in the communities in which we operate. FNI is in the process of ramping up 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 is expected to produce at a rate of 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 regarding First Nickel's business, operations and financial performance and condition of First Nickel, as well as its future plans, intentions, objectives or goals. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, future production at the Lockerby Mine, anticipated production rates at the Lockerby Mine, future production costs, capital expenditures, exploration and development expenditures, and general and administrative expenses. Generally, 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, discrepancies between actual and estimated production, mineral reserves and metallurgical recoveries, mining operational and development risks, 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 contained in this press release are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which First Nickel will operate in the future, including the prices of nickel and copper, anticipated costs, currency rates, and the ability to achieve goals. 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. First Nickel does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are included in this document, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

(1) Non-GAAP Financial Measures The cash cost per pound of nickel produced, and total production costs are non-GAAP financial measures that do not have a standardized meaning under Canadian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP"), and as a result may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Management uses these statistics to monitor operating costs and profitability, and believes that certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's performance and ability to generate cash flow in addition to conventional GAAP measures. Accordingly, it is intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. Total cash production costs include mining costs, milling, equipment operating lease costs, mine site general and administration costs, environmental costs, transportation, and refining of concentrate, less by-product credits from sales of copper, cobalt and PGE's . The cash production cost per pound of nickel produced is the total production costs divided by pounds of nickel produced.

Contacts:

First Nickel Inc.

Thomas Boehlert

President & CEO

(416) 362-7050

(416) 362-9050 (FAX)
tboehlert@firstnickel.com


First Nickel Inc.

Paul Davis

Vice President of Exploration

(416) 362-7050

(416) 362-9050 (FAX)


CHF Investor Relations

Robin Cook

Senior Account Manager

(416) 868-1079 x 228
robin@chfir.com