Sudbury, Ontario, March 5, 2012: HTX Minerals Corp. (HTX) and the Nunavut Resources Corporation (NRC) today announced the signing of a strategic alliance agreement for mineral project generation and exploration in the Kitikmeot Region (KI) of the Territory of Nunavut. As part of this agreement, which is the first of its kind to be signed by the NRC and has an initial term of five years, the NRC will seek a minimum of $18 million to be invested in exploration within the region.
"This is an exciting and important initiative for the people of the Kitikmeot, and will further allow us to actively participate in the economic development of the region." said Charlie Evalik, Chairman of the NRC and incumbent President of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association. "Together with HTX, we hope to accelerate the discovery of economic ore deposits that could lead to much greater investments in infrastructure such as roads, ports, power and other facilities, required to support mining activities. As well, the alliance will result in millions of dollars being spent locally for a wide range of exploration-related services, and generate new employment and business opportunities."
"We are extremely pleased to have been chosen by the NRC as its project generation exploration partner," said Scott McLean, President and CEO of HTX. "This alliance is a significant catalyst for company growth as it provides us with access to a large region of highly prospective and comparatively under-explored land, and the funding necessary to ensure success. Ultimately, it will allow us to significantly accelerate the pace of discovery and the potential realization of economic benefits accruing from those discoveries."
Capacity building is an important part of the agreement, and HTX will work closely with the NRC to ensure it gains practical knowledge of, and hands-on experience in, the critical early stage of the mineral exploration process, which may ultimately lead to discovery. This knowledge can then be applied more broadly on an on-going basis to help perpetuate the discovery process and further ensure the people of the KI realize the maximum potential benefits of mineral exploration and mining in their region.
Under the terms of the agreement the two companies will identify properties of interest, and form joint venture (JV) partnerships to conduct further exploration activities that may lead to the discovery of economic ore deposits, and potentially to the development of mines and infrastructure in the region. The JV partnership may, on a case by case basis, decide to option the Project to a third party or vend it into an alternative entity such as a new corporation or partnership that better suits the needs of the parties to fund the advancement of the Project.
Kitikmeot Region (KI) is the western most of three administrative regions of the Territory of Nunavut, Canada. With a land area of approximately 450,000 km2 (about 90% as large as Yukon), KI has a significant number of exploration and development projects related to gold, diamonds, base metals, platinum group metals and lithium. However, the region as a whole remains comparatively underexplored, and has significant discovery potential.
Much of the initial focus of the alliance will be on unstaked portions of the 11,509 km2 of Inuit Owned Land (surface and mineral rights) in the KI, and on Article 41 Lands, which are strategically located in the center of the mineral-rich Slave Structural Province, 360 km northwest of Yellowknife. The Article 41 Lands encompass a 572 km2 area in the NWT and have had relatively little exploration. They were granted to the KIA as part of the boundary reconciliation between the NWT and NU. Just to the south of the Article 41 Lands are the Ekati and Diavik diamond mines, while to the north, the Lupin Gold Mine produced more than three million ounces of gold. Significant base metal deposits (Gondor and Izok Lake) are also located 50 kilometers north.
Further Details
HTX will be showcasing this strategic alliance at the Prospectors and Developers Association Conference (PDAC) in Toronto on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, in Investors Exchange booth 2217b.
About HTX Minerals Corp.
HTX is a privately held Canadian exploration company that specializes in the discovery of new mineral deposits using a project generator business model. This approach provides investors with the greatest growth potential and minimizes shareholder dilution through joint venture funding partnerships and revenue generating opportunities. The company was recently selected as the partner of choice by the Nunavut Resources Corporation to generate projects in the 450,000 km2 Kitikmeot Region of the Territory of Nunavut. As well, HTX has a three-year $4.1 million strategic alliance with Implats, the world's second largest producer of platinum group metals, targeting the Mid-Continent Rift region, north of Lake Superior. The company's founders have a +20 year track record of success, having discovered over 50 Mt of ore with an in-situ value of almost $40 billion. HTX leverages this deep expertise with a proven methodology that combines custom-built digital compilations, advanced 3D geoscience modeling and interpretive techniques, and rigorous fieldwork to systematically identify economically attractive targets, including many that would otherwise go undiscovered.
About the Nunavut Resources Corporation
Nunavut Resources Corporation is an Inuit-owned corporation that was founded in 2010 by the Kitikmeot Inuit Association to diversify and develop the economy of Nunavut by attracting investment capital to the region. It is responsible for entering into economic partnerships with resource companies in the Kitikmeot Region with the business objective of generating wealth in the north for the benefit of the Inuit.
For further information, please contact:
Scott McLean, President & CEO
Tel: (705) 669-1777
Email: smclean@htxminerals.com