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First Atlantic Nickel Announces Acceptance Into Defense Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC) - Pipestone XL Smelter-Free Nickel-Cobalt Alloy Project Addresses Midstream Smelting Bottleneck in U.S. Defense Supply Chain
GRAND FALLS-WINDSOR, Newfoundland and Labrador, March 31, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Atlantic...
About this update from First Atlantic Nickel & Cobalt Corp.
[{"type":"text","content":"First Atlantic Nickel Announces Acceptance Into Defense Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC) - Pipestone XL Smelter-Free Nickel-Cobalt Alloy Project Addresses Midstream Smelting Bottleneck in U.S. Defense Supply Chain\nGRAND FALLS-WINDSOR, Newfoundland and Labrador, March 31, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Atlantic Nickel Corp. (TSXV: FAN | OTCQB: FANCF | FSE: P21) (the \"Company\" or \"First Atlantic\") is pleased to announce that it has been accepted as a member of the U.S. Defense Industrial Base Consortium (the “DIBC”). The DIBC operates as a consortium-based contracting vehicle under the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy, which manages key industrial base investment authorities, including programs funded under Title III of the Defense Production Act (the \"DPA\") and the Defense Industrial Base Fund under 10 U.S.C. § 4817. These authorities enable the Department of War (the \"DoW\") to make direct investments designed to expand and sustain domestic industrial capacity, particularly where supply chains are fragile or overly dependent on foreign sources. Canada has been designated a \"domestic source\" under Title III of the DPA since 1992. The DIBC aims to expand and diversify the defense industrial base, enable private-sector businesses to work in partnership with the U.S. Government, provide financing for key contractors, and gives the U.S. Government access to commercial solutions for defense requirements. Through these authorities, the DoW utilizes various financing structures, including direct equity stakes, grants, offtake agreements at guaranteed price points, purchase commitments, loans, and loan guarantees, to catalyze domestic mineral production and processing. Key Points Nickel is the only battery metal listed among 13 defense-critical minerals in the DIBC's first critical minerals Request for Project Proposals (“RPP”), (RPP-CM-26-01)1, released February 27, 2026.Awaruite addresses three Areas of Interest (“AOI”) outlined in the RPP.In September 2023, the U.S. Department of War stated that nickel is \"an essential mineral input to produce high-temperature aerospace alloys, stainless steel, and chemicals for lithium-ion batteries2.\"The Pipestone XL Awaruite Nickel-Cobalt Alloy Project addresses two sectors considered critical to the...