Noble Mineral Exploration Inc. (TSX-V:NOB, FRANKFURT:NB7, OTCQB:NLPXF) announced it has entered into a binding Letter of Intent to acquire the Lucas Gold Project from Canada Nickel Company Inc. (CNC), marking a strategic move to expand its gold portfolio in the prolific Timmins mining camp.
Under the terms of the agreement, Noble will issue 5,000,000 units to CNC, with each unit valued at $0.06 and consisting of one common share and one-half non-transferable common share purchase warrant. Each full warrant allows CNC to purchase one common share at $0.15 per share for two years. Additionally, CNC retains a back-in right to acquire a 25% interest in the property after a trigger date, which is the earlier of 36 months from closing, when $5 million in exploration expenditures have been incurred, or upon a sale or change of control of Noble. The back-in right would require CNC to pay Noble four times the exploration expenditures incurred.
The Lucas Gold Project is located approximately 30 km north of Timmins, Ontario, a region known for over 75 million ounces of gold production, and 20 km northeast of the world-class Kidd Creek Mine. It also lies about 20 km east of the Crawford Nickel Resource being developed by CNC. The project is drill-ready with full infrastructure access via paved Highway 655, power, water, and a Memorandum of Understanding with local First Nations.
Previous work by Noble in 2018 included 15 diamond drill holes totaling 3,184 meters, covering about 650 meters of a 1,700-meter gold-mineralized structure identified from airborne electromagnetic and magnetic surveys. Noble also located 37 historical drill-hole collars and twinned three of them. The drilling intersected significant gold mineralization, with highlights including 1.4 g/t gold over 24.9 meters in hole LUC18-07 and 1.3 g/t gold over 21.7 meters in hole LUC18-08 (true widths not known).
The project hosts six discrete IP anomalous trends, only one of which has been drill-tested. The gold mineralization is interpreted as structurally controlled, occurring as stacked lenses within a pyrite-plus-gold mineralized tuffaceous unit. Future work will focus on further defining the known zone and testing the five undrilled IP anomalies.
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 by the TSX Venture Exchange.
For the reader, this acquisition positions Noble to potentially expand its gold resources in a world-class mining district with existing infrastructure. The back-in right for CNC provides a mechanism for future partnership and capital injection, while the multiple untested IP anomalies offer significant exploration upside. The drill-ready status and First Nations agreement reduce project risks and timeline.
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 on behalf of their respective companies.
Noble Mineral Exploration Inc. is a Canadian-based junior exploration company with holdings in Canada Nickel Company Inc., Homeland Nickel Inc., East Timmins Nickel Inc., and interests in various exploration properties across Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland. Its common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “NOB”. More information is available at https://www.noblemineralexploration.com.
