Hard Creek Nickel Corp.
Hard Creek Nickel Corp.: Preliminary Assessment for Turnagain Nickel Project

Hard Creek Nickel Corp. / Miscellaneous

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12. December, 2007 (VANCOUVER) – Hard Creek Nickel Corporation (TSX.V –
HNC) today announced that AMEC Americas Limited (AMEC) has completed a
positive Preliminary Assessment (the 'Study') of the Company’s 100% owned
Turnagain Nickel Project, located near Dease Lake in British Columbia,
Canada.  The Study dated December 10, 2007 and entitled 'Updated
Preliminary Assessment of the Turnagain Nickel Project', will be filed on
SEDAR within 45 days and available at the same time for viewing on the
company’s website www.hardcreek.com.

The Study is based on a measured, indicated and inferred mineral resource
estimate completed by AMEC. This estimate incorporates a revised and
expanded geological interpretation of the Horsetrail zone and peripheral
area which includes 19 drill holes from the 2007 drilling program.  Timing
of the Study did not allow the resource estimate to include an additional
32 infill and stepout holes for a total of 11,933 metres (39,150 feet)
drilled in 2007.  Samples from these drill holes have been prepared and are
in the process of being analyzed.

The Study initially considered nickel recovery by both the production of a
saleable concentrate and a hydrometallurgical process. Completion of the
study was based on the hydrometallurgical process option given its’ better
economic viability.  Results presented below are for the open pit mining
and hydrometallurgical process scenario.

If you can't view the table please go to www.hardcreeknickel.com

Key parameters and results:

Base Case  Nickel Price               US $ 7.50/lb
Assumptions Cobalt Price                US $11.00/lb
         Copper Price               US $ 1.40/lb
         Exchange Rate (US$/CDN$)      0.95

Resources at
0.10% NiS Cut-Off Measured and Indicated 489 million tonnes @ 0.163       %
NiS and 0.012 % Co
                 Inferred         560 million tonnes @ 0.152       % NiS
and 0.011 % Co

Mining & Production Strip Ratio 0.44:1
                 Annual Throughput 18 million tonnes
                 Daily Production Rate 50,000 tonnes
                  Overall Ore Milled 516.6 million tonnes @        0.160 %
NiS and 0.011% Co
               Metallurgical Recoveries 73.6% Ni Overall Recovery
      66.5% Co Overall Recovery
        Average Annual Production 20,397 tonnes Ni in nickel      
hydroxide
       1,301 tonnes Co in cobalt       hydroxide
Capital Cost                                CDN$ 1.38 billion
Operating Cost                                CDN$ 9.43 per tonne milled
Life of Mine                                29 years
Payback                                        6.4 years
Internal Rate of Return                        12.2 %
Net Present Value  8 % discount        CDN$ 422 million
                  10 % discount        CDN$ 187 million
* Note: '% NiS' refers to nickel percent that is present in sulfides.

 'Management is pleased with the results of the Study,' said Mark Jarvis,
President of Hard Creek Nickel.  'Given recent escalating mine capital cost
projections we are encouraged to find out that even with these increases
the preliminary assessment came out positive with a mine life of 29 years.
AMEC’s assessment indicates that the deposit is potentially mineable and
has identified that further work is justified.  Hard Creek will be
undertaking additional work in all major areas to advance the project to
the pre-feasibility level. Confirmation and availability of the required
power for the project has also been identified by AMEC as critical. Hard
Creek is aggressively pursuing all possible options for providing
sufficient power to make the project feasible.'

Hard Creek is waiting for analytical results from most of the 32 infill and
stepout holes around the Turnagain deposit from the 2007 drilling program
which were not included in the mineral resource estimate stated in the
Study.  These results are expected to increase the overall resource and
upgrade the confidence level of a portion of the current inferred mineral
resource. Analytical results from our drilling program will be released as
they become available.  An updated mineral resource estimate will be
provided once all of the results have been received.

Recent drilling results obtained since the closing date of the Study have
already indicated the potential to include platinum and palladium as a
portion of our overall Turnagain deposit resource (see news release dated
November 28, 2007). These results were obtained within the limits of the
ultimate pit identified in the Study. As previously stated, the potential
to include platinum and palladium as a portion of our overall resource
could be significant. Close spaced drilling will be required during the
next drill season to determine the significance and extent of this
mineralization.

Turnagain Nickel Project Overview
The Turnagain Nickel project, which is 100% wholly-owned by Hard Creek, is
located in British Columbia about 1350 km (835 miles) northwest of
Vancouver and 70 km (44 miles) east of Dease Lake. The property consists of
81 contiguous mineral claims covering an area of approximately 29,370 ha
(72,570 acres).  Nickel and copper sulfides were first identified on the
property in about 1956 with Falconbridge Nickel Mines completing the first
exploration programs during the period from 1966 to 1973.  Exploration to
date on the Turnagain property has included geological mapping, geophysical
and geochemical surveys and more than 75,620 metres (248,100 feet) of
diamond drilling in 304 drill holes.  The total includes an additional 56
drill holes (32 infill and stepout holes from the Turnagain deposit and 24
exploration holes) which were completed since the closing date of the
Study.
 
Mineral Resources
The updated mineral resource estimate for the Turnagain deposit was
performed by Dr. Guillermo Pareja of AMEC under the guidance of Mr. Greg
Kulla, P.Geo. of AMEC.  A significant improvement between this estimate and
previous estimates is the use of geologic domains in the model.  Previous
models, which used grade shells and did not have the benefit of a
lithologic model, showed conditional bias and local excessive smoothing.

The table below presents the estimate of the resource of the Turnagain
Nickel deposit using a 0.10% NiS cut-off, as at September 25, 2007, of 489
million tonnes of Measured and Indicated Resources at 0.163% NiS and an
additional 560 million tonnes of inferred Resources at 0.152% NiS.  A total
of 42,128 metres (138,215 feet) of diamond drilling in 158 drill holes were
used in interpolating grade in the resource area.

The mineral resources of the Turnagain deposit were classified in
accordance with CIM Definition Standards and Best Practices referred to in
NI 43-101 which have a reasonable expectation of economic extraction.  The
mineralization of the Project satisfies criteria to be classified into
Measured, Indicated and Inferred mineral resource categories.

If you can't view the table please go to www.hardcreeknickel.com

Mineral Resource Estimate Table

Cut-off Grade
at 0.10% NiS Tonnage (thousands) % NiS % total Ni % Co
Measured  59,464   0.184     0.250         0.011
Indicated 429,688                 0.160   0.218         0.012
Measured + Indicated 489,152         0.163   0.222         0.012
Inferred 560,052                 0.152   0.204         0.011

The sulfide nickel and cobalt grades are based on an analytical procedure
employed by Acme Laboratories that consists of a concentrated hydrogen
peroxide plus ammonium acetate leaching solution that is believed to be
selective at dissolving nickel and cobalt from sulfide mineral species
while leaving the nickel and cobalt in silicates undissolved.  As a
precautionary step all the sulfide nickel grades were assigned a value of
zero if the corresponding sulphur assay was less than 0.2% S.  Sulphur
assays were based on Leco furnace method except for results obtained in
2006 which were ICP analysis.  This precaution may cause an underestimation
of the nickel resource and could be large enough to be a material impact. 
However, this approach limits the possibility that an overestimation of the
nickel resource has occurred.

Mining and Processing
The mining assessment for the Turnagain nickel deposit is based on typical
industry standards for a preliminary assessment study with regard to the
nature and mineability of the resource. The Study initially considered
nickel recovery by both the production of a saleable concentrate and a
hydrometallurgical process. Completion of the Study was based on the
hydrometallurgical process option given its’ better economic viability.

The proposed mining operation is a conventional shovel and truck open pit
mine feeding a 50,000 tonne per day process plant using standard mineral
flotation technology. Throughput analysis was not performed as part of the
Study.  Mining and processing of the deposit will be initiated in a
'starter pit' which has been scheduled to maximize the production of
high-grade material during the first five years, to shorten the capital
payback period.  Lower grade material from the starter pit will be
stockpiled and fed to the mill in the later years of operation. The pit
will expand in phased pushbacks until the ultimate pit limits are reached. 
The table below shows the contained tonnes and grade in the ultimate pit
shell.  About 67% of the mineral resource contained in the ultimate pit is
in the Measured or Indicated category.

If you can't view the table please go to www.hardcreeknickel.com

Ultimate Pit Tonnes and Grade Table

Cut-off Grade
at 0.10% NiS Tonnage (thousands) % NiS % total Ni % Co
Measured 56,611                  0.187   0.252         0.012
Indicated 290,871                  0.164   0.222         0.010
Measured + Indicated 347,482          0.167   0.227         0.010
Inferred 169,941                  0.145   0.199         0.010

Material for processing will be hauled to a primary crusher located near
the southwest rim of the Main Pit.  The mine at the 50,000 tonne per day
throughput has a potential life of 29 years with approximately 516.6
million tonnes at 0.160% NiS and 0.010% Co to the mill at an average
stripping ratio of 0.44:1. The construction schedule is estimated at 24
months.

Feed to the mill will be processed using a concentrator and
hydrometallurgical process facility on-site to produce separate nickel and
cobalt hydroxide products that will be trucked and shipped out of the
province through the Port of Stewart, for sale to ferronickel producers. 
In addition, a separate copper concentrate will be produced which can be
sold to a copper smelter. Processing will be based on a conventional nickel
sulfide flotation flowsheet to produce a sulfide concentrate followed by a
hydrometallurgical process to convert nickel and cobalt from its sulfide
forms to a hydroxide form.

If you can't view the table please go to www.hardcreeknickel.com

The overall metallurgical recoveries of metals have been estimated as
follows:

Overall Metallurgical Recoveries (%)

Metal Concentrator Hydromet Cumulative
Nickel     77.5    95            73.6
Cobalt      70            95            66.5
Copper      50            95            47.5


Metal in Saleable Product

Metal        Average Annual Production Life of Mine Production
Nickel (in hydroxide) 20,397 tonnes (44.9 million lbs) 591,525 tonnes
(1.304 billion lbs)
Cobalt (in hydroxide) 1,301 tonnes (  2.8 million lbs)   37,734 tonnes
(0.083 billion lbs)
Copper (in sulfide) 2,281 tonnes (  5.0 million lbs)   66,157 tonnes (0.145
billion lbs)

Saleable product would be paid for on the basis of 85% for nickel contained
in nickel hydroxide and 80% for cobalt hydroxide and copper in copper
sulfide.

Capital and Operating Costs
The initial capital cost of the project is estimated to be $CDN 1,381
million in 3rd Quarter, 2007 Canadian dollars.  A contingency of $CDN 250
million has been included in this cost.  The capital cost has been split in
the following manner:

If you can't view the table please go to www.hardcreeknickel.com

Capital Cost Estimates
Type                 Area                           CDN $M
Direct                 Mining                            116.3
                 Site Development            66.2
                 Main Process Facilities            390.9
                 Hydromet Plant & Reagent Service   106.0
                 Ancillary Buildings & Facilities    66.7
                 Tailings Facility             44.0
                 Utilities                     2.2
                                    Total Directs   792.3

Indirect         Owner’s Cost                     79.2
                 Construction Indirects             64.7
 Engineering Procurement & Construction Management   95.1
                Construction Camp & Catering     32.4
                Capital Spares                     22.0
                Freight                             38.5
                Start-up & Commissioning Allowance   6.5
                          Total Indirects    338.4
Contingency (~25%)                                    249.9
TOTAL Capital Cost Estimate                            1,380.6

Sustaining capital for the project over 29 years is $CDN 173.5 million.  Of
this $CDN 8.3 million is spent in Year 4 and $80.5 million is spent in Year
8 to add and replace equipment in the pit.  The remainder is attributed to
the capital requirements of the process and tailings facilities.

If you can't view the table please go to www.hardcreeknickel.com

The operating cost summary is shown in the following table:

Operating Cost Estimate

Area                                                     CDN $/tonne
General & Administration (G&A)        G&A Labor     0.14
                                Direct             0.29
                                      G&A Total     0.43
Mining Ore                                             1.40
Processing                         Process Labour     0.59
                                 Consumables     5.59
                                 Power             1.37
                                 Miscellaneous     0.06
                                 Process Total     7.60
TOTAL (CDN $/tonne milled)  9.43


Financial Analysis 
At a price of $7.50 US/lb of nickel, $11.00 US/lb of cobalt, and $1.40
US/lb of copper, an exchange rate of 0.95 US$/CDN$ and a discount rate of
10.0%, the resulting net present value (NPV) is $186.9 million Canadian. 
The project with these assumptions has a rate of return of 12.2%.  Other
cases based on various ranges of metal price are presented as follows:

If you can't view the table please go to www.hardcreeknickel.com

Pre-tax Net Present Value – Various Cases

Area                   Case 1 Case 2 Base Case 4  Case 5Present
Commodity (US$/lb)Nickel  6.00 6.75 7.50 8.25 9.00 12.00
           Cobalt  8.80 9.90 11.00 12.10 13.20 34.00
           Copper  1.12 1.26 1.40 1.54 1.68 3.15
IRR %                   4.8 5.0 12.2 15.3 18.3 31.8
NPV (CDN $M)Cum. Net Cash Flow  889     1,859 2,828 3,797 4,767 9,905
 5.0% Discount   -22 466 954 1,443 1,931 4,484
 8.0% Discount -279 72 422 773 1,123 2,945
 10.0% Discount -390 -102 187 476 764 2,258
 12.0% Discount -471 -229 13 255 497 1,745
 15.0% Discount -553 -362 -172 19 210 1,191
Payback (yrs)          13.2 8.0 6.4 5.3 4.5 2.6


Recommendations 
AMEC indicated in the Study that the deposit is potentially mineable and
that further work is justified.  It was recommended that work in all major
areas be undertaken to advance the project to the pre-feasibility level to
better determine the economic viability of the project. This work includes
drilling to better define the resources and upgrade these into reserves. 
More metallurgical work is necessary to ensure that saleable metal products
can be produced.  More environmental and geotechnical work is necessary to
allow the project to move forward. The pre-feasibility study would examine
variants to derive the appropriate path to the development of this deposit.
Confirmation and availability of the required power from the North American
grid is critical to this project.

Qualified Persons
The Qualified persons responsible for the preparation of the Study on the
preliminary assessment are:
• Mr. Greg Kulla, P.Geo. Principal Geologist, AMEC Vancouver office
• Mr. Gerrit Vos, P.Eng. Principal Mining Engineer, AMEC Vancouver office
• Mr. Ignacy (Tony) Lipiec, P.Eng. Senior Process Engineer, AMEC Vancouver
office

This news release has been reviewed and approved by Neil Froc, P. Eng, a
Qualified Person consistent with NI 43-101.
     


'Mark Jarvis'

MARK JARVIS, President
HARD CREEK NICKEL CORPORATION



Contact Germany:
Value Relations GmbH
Tel. +49 69 959246-11
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12.12.2007  Financial News transmitted by DGAP
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