The First Drill Into a Hidden Chilean Copper System Starts This Month

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1. Disclosure for the quote from the John Newell article published on December 23, 2025

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2. Ownership and Share Structure Information

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Nobel Resources Corp. (NBLC:TSX) announced that mobilization of its diamond drill contractor had begun at the Cuprita copper project in northern Chile, with drilling scheduled to commence during the week of January 12, 2026, after all required permits were received from local authorities.

The Cuprita project is located approximately 120 kilometers northeast of Copiapó in Chile's Atacama region and covers about 1,000 hectares. The property lies within the Paleocene porphyry copper belt, which hosts several established copper deposits in northern Chile. This will be the first diamond drill program conducted at Cuprita.

Larry Guy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nobel, said in the news release, "During 2025, our technical team identified highly prospective, near-surface copper targets at the Cuprita project. We are excited to commence drilling this large-scale, mineralized alteration system characterized by widespread copper minerals in outcrop."

Field programs completed during 2025 outlined multiple geological indicators consistent with a buried porphyry copper system. A porphyry copper deposit is a large, disseminated copper system typically associated with intrusive igneous rocks and characterized by widespread low-grade mineralization. Nobel geologists identified copper mineralized stockwork, surface copper oxides, tourmaline breccias, quartz veining, and a silica leach cap, all features commonly associated with porphyry systems. Soil sampling outlined copper, lead, and zinc anomalies adjacent to a magnetic low, while trenching returned up to 10 meters grading 1.9% copper. An induced polarization survey identified a chargeability and resistivity anomaly about 200 meters below surface, consistent with targets in the region.

Copper's Expanding Role in Electrification and Supply Constraints

On January 2, Frank Holmes said copper ended 2025 at nearly US$12,600 per ton, representing a 45.6% increase from the start of the year. He described copper as being "at the heart of the electrification boom," citing its role in power grids, data centers, electric vehicles, and defense systems. Holmes also referenced a Goldman Sachs report that named copper its "favorite industrial metal," adding that nearly half of global copper demand was linked to electrification. He further noted that Fitch projected copper demand growth of between 2.0% and 2.5% in 2026, while UBS forecasted 3% growth for both 2025 and 2026.

In a January 4 update, Bloomberg AI reported that copper was moving toward record levels amid tightening global supply conditions. The report attributed the trend to a strike at Chile's Mantoverde mine and rising uncertainty around U.S. tariff policy, both of which were affecting supply availability. Analysts at China Securities Co. said that "overall supply shortfalls, coupled with regional dislocation caused by U.S. tariffs, [were] propelling copper," and projected a global supply deficit of more than 100,000 tons in 2026.

The next week, on January 8, Bloomberg macro strategist Skylar Montgomery Koning wrote that although copper had reached a record high, the metal may still have been underestimating underlying economic growth. He explained that the copper-to-gold ratio, which has historically been viewed as a barometer of economic health, had fallen sharply even as copper prices advanced, reflecting copper's weaker performance relative to gold over the past two years.

According to Koning, this divergence suggested either that commodity traders were too bearish on growth or that bond markets were overly concerned about debt, adding that copper markets appeared "too pessimistic on growth." He noted that long-term commodity cycles often unfold over multiple years and that both monetary and fiscal stimulus were expected to support demand, while supply constraints and increasing use of copper in artificial intelligence applications were also influencing the market.

Analyst Sees Drill-Ready Copper Opportunity in Chile

¹According to John Newell of John Newell & Associates in a December 23 report, he described Nobel Resources Corp. as "a Speculative Buy," citing its portfolio of four copper projects in northern Chile totaling approximately 6,050 hectares, all showing surface copper mineralization. He wrote that the company had followed "a straightforward and disciplined" strategy of targeting projects with historical work and clear geological merit, adding that the Cuprita project "clearly stands out as the near-term value driver." Newell stated that Cuprita exhibited "many of the classic hallmarks of a porphyry copper system," including surface copper oxides, hydrothermal breccias, quartz stockwork veining, and alteration assemblages consistent with low-pyrite porphyry systems in the region.

Newell reported that surface sampling and trenching had returned rock chip values ranging from approximately 0.25% to over 3% copper and noted the presence of copper oxide minerals, such as atacamite, chrysocolla, brochantite, along with chalcocite and bornite. He added that induced polarization surveys had identified chargeability and resistivity anomalies at depths of about 200 meters that "remain open along strike," and emphasized that drill permits had been received in October, describing Cuprita as "drill-ready." From a technical standpoint, Newell wrote that the stock appeared to be emerging from a prolonged basing phase, noting that a sustained move above CA$0.05 would be constructive and could allow a test of resistance near CA$0.07 and CA$0.08, and he said, "We have penciled in an initial working technical target of CA$0.15."

Probing the Core: Testing Cuprita's Subsurface Anomalies

The initial drill program at Cuprita will target a leach cap and associated geochemical and geophysical anomalies identified during the 2025 field season, as noted in the company's investor presentation. A leach cap is a zone of bleached or oxidized rock formed when acidic fluids migrate upward from a buried mineralized system, often marking the surface expression of a porphyry copper deposit. Nobel reported that the leach cap at Cuprita is spatially associated with copper, lead, and zinc soil anomalies located adjacent to a ground magnetic low, a geophysical feature commonly linked to hydrothermal alteration in porphyry environments.

Soil sampling outlined copper values more than 300% above background levels, with the strongest anomalies occurring southeast of the outcropping leach cap. These anomalies coincide with quartz veins containing copper oxides and remnant sulphides, and are situated near the intersection of north-northeast-trending faults and northwest-trending structures, a structural configuration recognized as a control on copper mineralization in the region.

Geophysical surveys also identified an induced polarization chargeability and resistivity anomaly approximately 200 meters below surface. An induced polarization survey measures the electrical properties of subsurface rocks to detect sulphide minerals, and similar responses are typical of porphyry copper systems in northern Chile. The anomaly remains open to the north and south, providing multiple drill targets for the initial program.

Geological mapping further identified tourmaline breccias across much of the target area. Tourmaline breccias are alteration features often associated with porphyry copper systems and are considered a supportive indicator of hydrothermal mineralizing processes. These combined surface, geochemical, structural, and geophysical datasets form the basis of the first drill campaign at Cuprita. 

Ownership and Share Structure²

Management and Insiders hold 8.38% of Nobel Resources, with Vernon Arseneau holding the most at 3.17%, followed by Michael Lawrence Guy with 1.86%. The rest is retail.

Nobel has 161.68 million outstanding shares, 148.13 million free float shares, a market cap of CA$8.75 million, and a 52-week range of CA$0.02-CA$0.07