Noble Mineral Exploration Inc. (TSX-V: NOB, FRANKFURT: NB7, OTCQB: NLPXF) has entered into a Purchase Agreement to acquire the Lucas Gold Project from Canada Nickel Company Inc. (CNC), the company announced on September 17, 2026. The transaction follows a letter of intent announced on July 13, 2026, and remains subject to TSX Venture Exchange requirements.
Under the agreement, Noble will issue 5,000,000 units valued at $0.06 per unit. Each unit comprises one common share and one half of a non-transferable common share purchase warrant; one full warrant entitles the holder to purchase one common share at $0.15 for two years. Additionally, CNC will receive a back-in right to purchase a 25% interest in the property by paying Noble four times the exploration expenditures incurred by Noble. The back-in right can be exercised beginning on the earlier of 36 months after closing, the date when at least $5 million in exploration expenditures have been incurred, or the date Noble enters a binding agreement to sell the property or undergoes a change of control.
The Lucas Gold Project is a drill-ready asset located approximately 30 km north of Timmins, Ontario, a region that has produced over 75 million ounces of gold. It is also 20 km northeast of the Kidd Creek Mine, which is celebrating its 58th year of continuous production with more than 150 million tonnes of ore, and about 20 km east of the Crawford Nickel Resource currently being developed by CNC. The project benefits from full industry services, supplies, and infrastructure in Timmins, access via paved Highway 655, ample power and water, and a Memorandum of Understanding with local First Nations.
In 2018, Noble completed 15 NQ diamond drill holes totaling 3,184 meters covering approximately 650 meters of strike length of a 1,700-meter gold-mineralized structure identified from airborne electromagnetic and differential magnetic surveys. The project hosts six discrete IP anomalous trends, but only one has been investigated by drilling. Gold mineralization is interpreted as structurally controlled and occurs as discrete lenses within a pyrite-plus-gold mineralized tuffaceous unit. Future work would include drilling the initial IP anomaly to further define gold mineralization and testing the other five undrilled anomalies for similar mineralization.
Vance White, President and CEO of Noble, said, "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. We believe this to be a very valuable asset to Noble in a space we expect improving forecasted gold price in these uncertain geopolitical times."
The acquisition underscores ongoing consolidation and exploration activity in the Timmins mining camp, a prolific gold and base metals region. For Noble, the Lucas project adds a drill-ready gold asset to its portfolio, which already includes holdings in Canada Nickel Company Inc., Homeland Nickel Inc., and East Timmins Nickel Inc., as well as gold exploration properties such as Holdsworth near Wawa, Ontario. For Canada Nickel, the transaction allows it to retain exposure to potential gold discoveries through the back-in right while focusing on its Crawford nickel project. Readers can find more detailed information on Noble's website at www.noblemineralexploration.com.
