"Yes it would be nice but frankly impossible to obtain someone at that level with those credentials. Noront could not offer enough incentive to someone at that level."
I don't know that you can make that statement given that the individual is an unknown, what the board is willing to give as incentive is unknown, increased wealth for this individual may not rate as high in importance initially and the position doesn't have to be their sole involvement.
"There are good people with excellent background who would take Noront to a new level but they aren't going to be easy to find and getting them to take on such an early stage exploration concern won't be easy."
So there are no persons out there with enough knowledge and smarts to recognize what this is and where it could go and ultimately what it could do for them?
"Guess we'll hear something fairly soon if rumours are true and Noront offers a deal involving control as well as responsibilities. That's the tough hurdle as the BoD will have to give the new CEO decision making authority and I wonder if the institutional investors are willing to do so?"
If the person is a mover and a finisher I doubt very much if there is a lot the board wouldn't hand over. The trick in any business is to find the talent to get the job done and then let them do it. If he/she can do that then we get what we came for and the way they need to get the job done is the way they need to get the job done.