In March 2012, HTX Minerals Corp. and the Nunavut Resources Corporation signed the first ever strategic alliance for mineral project generation and exploration in the Kitikmeot Region (KI) of the Territory of Nunavut. This five-year agreement will seek a minimum of $18 million to be invested in exploration targeting the region.

Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will identify properties of interest, and form project joint venture (JV) partnerships to conduct further exploration activities that will lead to the discovery of economic ore deposits, and ultimately to the development of mines and infrastructure in the region.

Press Release

Benefits to the people of the Kitikmeot Region (KI)

This strategic alliance supports the people of the KI as active participants in the growth and prosperity of the KI, and will help enable them to realize the greatest potential economic benefits in all areas of mineral development in the region. Specifically, these benefits include:

• Employment and Business Opportunities: Exploration and mining are central to the Nunavut economy. This alliance is expected to result in millions of exploration dollars being spent locally, for a wide range of exploration, development and related services, including staking, prospecting, surveying, mapping, drilling, travel and accommodation.
• Infrastructure: It will accelerate the discovery of economic ore deposits that will lead to much greater investments in infrastructure, including roads, ports, power and other facilities, required to support mining activities.
• Training: Through the alliance, Inuit will gain practical knowledge of, and hands-on experience in, the critical early stage of the mineral exploration process leading to discovery. This knowledge can then be applied more broadly, and on an on-going basis, to help perpetuate the discovery process and further ensure the people of Nunavut realize the maximum potential benefits of mineral exploration and mining in the KI.

Benefits to HTX

• Accelerated Discovery: This alliance creates a solid relationship foundation, one that provides HTX with the social license necessary to explore the region, and will significantly accelerate the pace of discovery and realization of economic benefits accruing from those discoveries.
• Pre-Funded, Non-Dilutive Discovery: This alliance dramatically increases HTX's probability of discovering new ore deposits by providing it with direct access to a large region of highly prospective and comparatively under-explored land. And with a minimum of $18 million planned for exploration by the NRC, this further ensures that HTX shareholders will benefit from new discoveries without the equity dilution that would otherwise be required to fund an exploration program of this magnitude.