Noble Mineral Exploration Inc. (TSX-V:NOB, FRANKFURT: NB7, OTCQB:NLPXF) announced today that it has entered into a binding Letter of Intent to acquire the Lucas Gold Project from Canada Nickel Company Inc. ("CNC"). The transaction is structured as a share issuance, with Noble issuing 5,000,000 units valued at $0.06 per unit, each consisting of one common share and one-half non-transferable warrant exercisable at $0.15 per share for two years.
Under the agreement, CNC will retain a "Back-in Right" to purchase a 25% interest in the property at any time after the Trigger Date, which is defined as the earlier of 36 months from closing, when at least $5 million in exploration expenditures have been incurred, or upon a sale or change of control of Noble. The purchase price would be four times the exploration expenditures incurred by Noble.
The Lucas Township Gold Project is located approximately 30 km north of Timmins, Ontario, a region renowned for over 75 million ounces of gold production. It is also 20 km northeast of the Kidd Creek Mine, which has produced over 150 million tonnes of ore in its 58-year history, and about 20 km east of the Crawford Nickel Resource being developed by CNC. The project benefits from full infrastructure, including access via paved Highway 655, power, and water, and Noble has a Memorandum of Understanding with local First Nations.
In 2018, Noble completed 15 diamond drill holes totaling 3,184 meters, covering approximately 650 meters of a 1,700-meter gold-mineralized structure identified from airborne geophysical surveys. The company located 37 historical drill-hole collars and twinned three of them. No further work has been done since 2018. The project has six discrete induced polarization (IP) anomalous trends requiring follow-up; only one has been drilled to date. Gold mineralization is interpreted to be structurally controlled within a pyrite-plus-gold tuffaceous unit.
Vance White, President and CEO of Noble, stated: "We are very pleased to be proceeding with the repurchase of an excellent gold prospect on which we know from past work carried out by Noble of an existing gold zone but also a number of untested parallel zones." The transaction is subject to negotiation of a definitive agreement and approval from the TSX Venture Exchange.
The acquisition is significant as it provides Noble with a drill-ready gold project in a world-class mining district, with multiple untested targets. The Back-in Right granted to CNC ensures continued alignment between the companies. For the industry, this deal highlights the ongoing consolidation and exploration activity in the Timmins region, which has historically been a major gold producer. The project's proximity to existing infrastructure and its drill-ready status could accelerate exploration and potentially add new gold resources.
Qualified persons Stephen J. Balch, P.Geo., VP Exploration of CNC, and Wayne Holmstead, P.Geo., have reviewed and approved the technical information in this release. More details are available on Noble's website at https://www.noblemineralexploration.com.
