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About the Company URSA Major Minerals
Incorporated (URSA Major) is a TSX-listed Canadian public company with a
focus on mining and exploration of nickel, copper and precious metal
deposits. URSA Major has a variety of projects ranging from
pre-production mining with defined mineral reserves at the feasibility
level through to early stage exploration. URSA Major’s strategy for
growth is to build sustained shareholder value by advancing high quality
exploration projects through strong technical management . URSA Major
Summary (PDF) URSA Major’s main
property is the Shakespeare Nickel Project, located 70 km west of
Sudbury, Ontario. The Shakespeare Nickel Project is in a pre-production
mining stage and during 2007, the company completed the mining, haulage
and processing of a 50,000 tonne bulk ore sample. The bulk sample was
successfully processed at Xstrata Nickel’s (Xstrata’s) Strathcona mill
and provided an evaluation of metallurgical characteristics, metals
recovery and concentrate characteristics at a production scale from the
Shakespeare deposit. Subsequent to the year end, the Company has mined
and shipped a second 50,000 tonne batch of ore to the Strathcona mill
for campaign milling. The company is planning to initiate on-going ore
shipments to the Strathcona mill at a minimum rate of 500 tonnes per day
beginning in June, 2008.
Subsequent to the year-end, URSA Major received
revenue of US$4.05 million for base metals from the 50,000 tonnes of ore
processed in October 2007 and anticipates a further payment of
approximately US$900,000 for precious metals from that ore.
Since making a significant near-surface nickel,
copper and precious metals discovery at the Shakespeare property in
2002, the Company has defined a substantial near-surface mineral reserve
and has completed a positive feasibility study on a 4,500 tonne/day open
pit mining operation and on-site processing plant. The project has a
diluted Probable Reserve of 11,828,000 tonnes grading 0.33% nickel,
0.35% copper, 0.02% cobalt, 0.33 g/t platinum, 0.36 g/t palladium and
0.18 g/t gold. URSA Major has received all of the major permits required
to proceed with an open-pit mine and 4,500 tonne per day concentrator at
Shakespeare. URSA Major is particularly encouraged by recent strong base
metal prices which continue to improve the economic fundamentals for the
project.
URSA Major has a 100% interest in the Shining Tree
nickel-copper deposit located 110 km north of Sudbury. At Shining Tree,
URSA Major has defined an Indicated Resource of 1.02 million tonnes
grading 0.71% nickel, 0.36% copper plus an Inferred Resource of 1.49
million tonnes grading 0.67% nickel and 0.36% copper. Based on a
preliminary economic study that evaluated an open-pit mine at Shining
Tree, with truck haulage and processing at the proposed Shakespeare
mill, URSA Major has identified an in-pit diluted resource of
approximately 398,000 tonnes at a grade of 0.68% nickel and 0.33%
copper.
URSA Major has a large 37,000 acre exploration
property known as the Porter-Baldwin property that covers a prospective
15 km strike length extending from the Shakespeare deposit towards the
Sudbury intrusive complex. This property contains exploration targets
for magmatic sulphide nickel-copper deposits similar to Shakespeare.
Exploration since 2004 has demonstrated the presence of Shakespeare-type
mineralization on the property.
In 2006, URSA Major optioned the Worthington-Bell
property located in Lorne Township, 40 km west of Sudbury, on the
prospective Worthington offset dyke. The Company currently has an active
exploration program for nickel-copper mineralization on the property.
Subsequent to the year ended January 31, 2008, URSA
Major entered into an option agreement with United Reef Limited (United
Reef) whereby URSA Major can earn a 70% interest in United Reef’s 100%
owned past-producing Nickel Offsets Mine, located in Foy Township, 40 km
northwest of Sudbury, Ontario. The Nickel Offsets Property consists of
twelve contiguous patented mining claims and five unpatented mining
claims covering 358 ha (884 acres). The property hosts the
past-producing Nickel Offsets (Ross) Mine which between 1943 and 1957
produced 208,551 tons of nickel and copper ore with reported recoveries
of 4.56 million lbs of nickel and 3.32 million lbs of copper.
In addition to exploration projects, URSA Major owns
5,713,315 common shares of Patricia Mining Corp. (TSX-V: PAT), an
Ontario-based gold exploration company that has a 45% interest in the
Island Gold project located near Wawa, Ontario. The Island Gold project
is currently producing gold. URSA Major also has 5,000,000 shares of
Nyah Resources Corp. (TSX-V:NRU) resulting from the sale of the Agnew
Lake Uranium property.
URSA Major has a strategic alliance with Korea
Resources Corporation (KORES), a state owned Korean Corporation, to
identify and acquire significant advanced base metal exploration
projects for exploration and development. |
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