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Nortec Minerals research and analysis

February 3, 2012, Friday, 07:53 GMT | 02:53 EST | 12:23 IST | 14:53 SGT
Contributed by eResearch


Karhujupukka Acquisition

Nortec Minerals Corp. has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Akkerman Exploration B.V. to earn an undivided 80% interest in the Karhujupukka property in Finland. The property’s minerals include iron (Fe), titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), platinum and palladium (PGE, or Platinum Group Elements), and gold (Au).

Nortec will fund and incur expenditures of €1,500,000 over an earn-in period of four years following the signing of an Option Agreement.

Akkerman filed an application in June 2008 with the Finnish Ministry of Labour and the Economy for 100% of legal and beneficial right, title and interest in and to seven exploration claims (the Karhujupukka property) with a combined surface area of about 600 hectares. The application is still under review.

The MOU gives Nortec the exclusive right to verify and evaluate the data and information made available by Akkerman, as well as to evaluate any other relevant data, plus collect additional data in the field through initial  reconnaissance and exploration work on the claims.

Nortec will pay Akkerman 250,000 common shares upon signing of the MOU and receiving TSX Venture approval, and will enter into an Option Agreement when Akkerman has been granted 100% interest in the Karhujupukka property by the Finnish authorities.

In addition, Nortec will issue the following shares to Akkerman:

- 250,000 common shares on the date of signing of the Option Agreement;

- 1,000,000 common shares on the first-year anniversary of the Option Agreeement;

- 1,500,000 common shares on the second-year anniversary of the Option Agreement; and

- 2,000,000 common shares on the third-year anniversary of the Option Agreement.

The minimum exploration expenditures for the first 12 months after signing of the Option Agreement are €200,000.


The Karhujupuuka Project

The Karhujupukka project is in northwestern Finland, and is one of the few known magnetite/ilmenite deposits in the country. Karhujupukka is 200 kilometres from the Swedish Kiruna iron ore district, with infrastructure and rail connection to the port of Lulea. Mineralization was discovered at Karhujupukka by the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) in 1988.


Work Programs

Nortec and Akkerman are preparing detailed work programs by evaluating all of GTK’s work to date, in order to confirm the dimensions of the mineralized Fe/Ti/V zone and the various magnetic anomalies for additional Fe/Ti/V mineralization. To delineate any potential hidden magmatic massive sulphide nickel(Ni)/copper(Cu)/PGE/gold(Au) deposits at depth, air-borne and ground Time-Domain Electromagnetic Surveys are also planned. This will be followed by target drilling, depending on results.


LK Drilling Results

On another front, Nortec announced results from the first three holes at the Phase V drilling program on the Company’s Läntinen Koillismaa (LK) palladium/platinum/gold/copper/nickel (PGE+Au/Cu/Ni) project in north-central Finland. This project is optioned to Finore Mining Inc., which is earning an 80% interest by making payments of $10.5 million and work expenditures totalling $10 million over three years. (The Option Agreement on the LK project was closed on September 21, 2011 with Otterburn Ventures Inc., whose name change to Finore Mining Inc. was effective September 26, 2011.)

Highlights of the LK drilling results include:

Hole HAU11-002: 44.0 metres at 0.80 g/t PGE+Au; 0.28% Cu; 0.19% Ni from 58 metres - including 13.0 metres at 1.15 g/t PGE+Au; 0.38% Cu; 0.27% Ni from 84 metres.

Hole HAU11-004: 5.0 metres at 1.05 g/t PGE+Au; 0.33% Cu; 0.24% Ni from 114 metres.

The drill results extend the known PGE+Au/Cu/Ni mineralization on the Haukiaho target, on the southern part of the LK project. A large portion of the 10,000-metre Phase V drill program is designed to target the 3,700-metre strike and down-dip extension of mineralization at Haukiaho to upgrade the Inferred Mineral Resource that was estimated as part of the NI 43-101 Technical Report on the LK project, recently submitted to Finore Mining.

For further details on the drilling results, see Nortec’s and Finore’s January 31, 2011 news releases, available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. For details on the NI 43-101 Technical Report, see Finore Mining’s January 16, 2011 news release, also available on SEDAR.


THE COMPANY

Nortec Minerals is a junior mining company with a diverse portfolio of properties: (1) across Finland; (2) in Labrador, Canada; and (3) in Azuay Province, southern Ecuador.

The Company’s strategy is to acquire: (a) properties located in low political risk countries with supportive governments, well established mining laws, and excellent infrastructure; and (b) previously explored properties in mining districts with existing exploration data-sets, providing greater potential for discovery.

Nortec’s current focus is on its Finnish properties, exploring for base and precious metals, rare earth elements (REE), and lithium, with particular concentration on the Läntinen Koillismaa (LK), Tammela, and Seinäjoki projects.


RECOMMENDATION AND TARGET PRICE

We are maintaining our Speculative Buy Recommendation along with our Target Price of $0.50 per share.


eResearch Analysts:
Bob Weir, B.Sc., B. Comm., CFA