Apogee to buy five Knife Lake claims; Eagle Plains keeps 2.5% royalty

Apogee Minerals agreed to acquire five mineral claims covering about 1,965 hectares at its Knife Lake copper project in east-central Saskatchewan from Eagle Plains Resources, which would retain a 2.5% net smelter returns royalty.

Apogee would hold a 100% right, title and interest in the five claims, subject to that royalty, under a purchase and sale agreement dated Oct. 19, 2026. The companies announced the transaction on Oct. 20; Eagle Plains is described in the announcement as an arm's length party. Apogee trades on the TSXV as APMI and Eagle Plains as EPL.

For an allocator weighing Saskatchewan copper, the transaction offers two exposures to the same ground: Apogee's shares carry the exploration budget, and Eagle Plains' royalty pays only if the ground is developed. A net smelter return gives the holder a share of production without funding the work, so the royalty is a stake in any future mine on these five claims rather than in the drilling programme that would find one.

Two of the claims sit immediately adjacent to the northern portion of the project; the other three lie within the existing boundary, near the south end of the Knife Lake deposit and immediately east of it. Apogee says the ground follows the same stratigraphy that hosts the deposit and its regional targets.

On closing, Apogee's Knife Lake land position would total 59 mineral claims covering about 37,220 hectares. Only the five claims in this agreement would be owned outright; the other 54 are held under an option from Trident Resources Corp.

Brady Rak, Apogee's chief executive, said consolidating ground around the deposit had been a priority since the company optioned the project. He said the two northern claims sit on the company's boundary and the three inside claims fill gaps along the same geological trend that hosts the known mineralization. Following up high-grade copper intercepts drilled by previous operators is the first order of business, he said.

Rak also cited Eldorado Gold's roughly C$3.8 billion acquisition of Foran Mining and its McIlvenna Bay deposit earlier this year as an indication of how major miners view the province — his reading of the sector, not a disclosed term of this transaction.

The ownership mix is the part that shapes the return. The 54 optioned claims carry whatever terms Apogee negotiated with Trident; the five claims in this agreement would be the only ground the company owns outright after closing.