This article is a sponsored feature from Mining.com.au partner Aurbis Resources. It is not financial advice. Talk to a registered financial expert before making investment decisions.
Québec Nickel (CSE:QNI) has shifted its strategic focus following its acquisition of the Ecru Gold Project in Nevada, US, beginning with a full corporate rebrand from Québec Nickel to Aurbis Resources.
The company is still trading as Québec Nickel, but the name Aurbis Resources Corporation has been reserved, and the final name change will be communicated to the markets imminently.
This shift signals a deliberate move away from its previous identity and toward a broader, more opportunity-driven mandate.
Johan Lambrechts has been appointed CEO to lead this transition, emphasising that the name change is more than cosmetic. It marks a reset in how the company positions itself, the types of assets, and the global scale, with Nevada as its current focus.
In late February 2026, the company finalised the negotiations on the acquisition of 100% interest of the Ecru gold project in Nevada with Orogen Royalties (the LOI was originally signed in December 2025).
With the definitive purchase and sale agreement for the project now signed, Aurbis Resources is stepping into its next chapter.
Ecru: A high potential gold project
The Ecru Project consists of 112 mining claims and is situated on one of Nevada’s most prolific gold districts, just north of the Pipeline-Cortez-Goldrush Robertson deposit cluster.
Lambrechts notes that the location is a key selling point for the project.
“We’re surrounded by giants, quite literally. Giant mining companies such as Nevada Gold Mines and giant deposits,” Lambrechts says.
The project lies directly northeast and adjacent to Nevada Gold Mines’ Robertson Deposit and is positioned along major regional structural corridors, including the Cortez Fault system of the Battle Mountain-Eureka trend.
Nevada Gold Mines is a joint venture project between Barrick (NYSE:B) and Newmont (NYSE:NEM).
Lambrechts explains that the geology stacks up really well for Ecru, with the projection of the Cortez Fault, which is associated with the mineralisation of the Cortez mining complex, interpreted to extend straight through Aurbis’ tenement.
Structural lineaments connecting the Pipeline mining complex and the Robertson discovery also trend northeast and intersect with the northwest-trending Cortez Fault projection inside the Ecru project, creating a very favourable structural context for the project.
Previous exploration work on the property was mostly geophysical surveys and minor drilling, which identified multiple untested targets and represents two styles of deposits, being Carlin and Intrusion related targets.
With that, Aurbis is moving forward with the project with the consideration that it has the high potential to host either Robertson-style intrusive-related gold mineralisation or Carlin-style mineralisation.
The project is very much underexplored from a modern perspective, which Lambrechts notes is a major benefit to Aurbis.
“We’re surrounded by these big deposits and have minimal historical work on Ecru, so this leaves us an open window and a great opportunity,” Lambrechts says.
A data-driven approach
Aurbis Resources is taking a data-driven approach to the Ecru project, which Lambrechts points out is necessary in these types of discoveries in Nevada.
“If you look at the gold discoveries and prospects in that part of the world, they’re almost all on outcropping geology, but in recent discoveries, including Robertson, these are just off the outcrop under cover.”
This means that you can’t see the rocks and the gold in the ground — you need to explore through the cover.
“This means that we need to be a data-driven exploration company, doing the geology methodically and then acting and reacting on those results,” Lambrechts says.
At the same time, Lambrechts points out that a potential pitfall for very technically focused exploration is that it can be slow.
“We need to be cautious of that because the opportunity is now.
“We need to do right by the project, but we also need to do right by our investors, which means to do it sequentially, do it properly, but don’t sit on it.
“Be methodical, be technical, but be aggressive.”
Targeting Robertson and Carlin-style mineralisation
As part of the acquisition of Ecru, Aurbis has already completed a geological review, but now the company needs to go more in-depth.
Lambrechts notes that with the geological review and historic work, they already have a good idea of the potential, including key targets for the project.
The two targets are a key factor in this project, the first being the Robertson target.
Robertson is an intrusion-related gold mineralisation target. Historic drill holes show geochemical signatures and a metal anomalism corresponding with the Robertson Target.
“We’ve got the right geology at surface and we’ve got the geochemistry in the soil that was done by the previous explorer,” Lambrechts says.
The second target is the Carlin-style and “Carlin are elephants,” Lambrechts notes.
“They’re really big deposits generally, but are lower-plate geology, which means they could easily be very deep.”
Lambrechts also explains that the project includes a geophysical signature that, based on magnetics and gravity, suggests a raft of lower plate carbonate rocks, faulted up nearer the surface, which is the typical host for Carlin deposits.
“We’ve already got a strong idea of what we need to do, but we’ll get a professional group to really dive into it, give us additional targets, which we will then act on as our next steps.”
Lambrechts notes that the end game will be to drill it.
“That’s the truth detector.”
“The plan is to drill both of the targets as soon as possible, but as late as is necessary in order to gather the information we need.”
Positioning for a major discovery
Lambrechts says that Aurbis is excited about the potential for this project.
“We have an opportunity to discover either a Robertson or Carlin analogue right next door to the biggest player in the area, Nevada Gold Mines.
“From a company perspective, even from an investment perspective, if such a discovery is made, and that is our driver, then the potential for the project to be advanced into production is very real. The opportunity is there.”
Lambrechts does note that if it is a Carlin style deposit, then that could potentially change the playing field, due to the size of these types of deposits.
It’s also an excellent time to be in the gold space.
“I don’t see the general trend being anything other than up,” Lambrechts says.
“I’m not expecting for it to continue at high-speed forever, but I am expecting whatever investment is made in gold today to deliver dividends in the future.”
Investor sentiment shifts toward juniors
Looking at the overall market, despite the high prices, investment into the greenfield junior side of the gold space has been pretty slow for most of the initial run in gold we’ve seen over the last few years.
Lambrechts notes that the gold markets have made people a lot of money, but people have also lost a lot of money on the markets and there’s a risk adversity to investing in greenfields projects, especially when compared to the relatively mitigated risk of investing in a producing major.
For that reason, the gold producers have been seeing most of the investment because there’s less risk and they have a physical product that has been selling at record prices.
Now though, there’s been a bit of a turn and Lambrechts says that we’re seeing investors start to look at the junior space again, not just in gold but across other commodities, especially silver and copper.
Advancing toward drilling
With the introduction of Aurbis to the global market, Lambrechts has big plans for the coming months, starting with an in-depth geological review to give as much certainty as possible of what the Ecru project holds.
“We need certainty, as much as we can get in the uncertain world of exploration,” Lambrechts says.
“We have an obligation to our shareholders by making sure that we spend their money properly, the right amount at the right time.”
Aurbis will follow the recommended directives on exploration, with the aim of drilling both targets down the line.
“I think the shallower Robertson intrusive style target will probably be the main target initially while we spend a little more time and effort working up the Carlin target, because of its huge potential and because it may be deeper,” Lambrechts says.
“We need to be sure that when we drill it, we give ourselves the best chance of success.”
Write to Amy Rotman at Mining.com.au
Images: Mining.com.au and Aurbis Resources
