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VMS Ventures Announces Property Agreement Deal
with Hudbay Minerals Inc.
Dear VMS follower,
Today we announced an agreement with industry giant HudBay Minerals. If you refer to the map below, you will note our Reed Lake land package (red) surrounds a small yellow claim package. That is the subject of today's announcement (news releases are reproduced below from both companies).
Of course, we are delighted to be partnering with the biggest company in this prolific VMS belt, but as importantly to our shareholders, we have begun drilling very near the border of this property and hope to be able to determine the potential value of this agreement for both companies in the near term.
Please note that HudBay indicates they are committing $45 million dollars to finding a deposit in this belt. We agree with them: there are more deposits to find and we believe our land package is second to none in the Snow Lake Camp.
As always, please give us a call to discuss our plans and progress.
HudBay Options Exploration Property to VMS Ventures
Winnipeg, Manitoba - August 7, 2007 - HudBay Minerals Inc. (TSX: HBM) (HudBay) today announced it has entered into an option agreement with VMS Ventures Inc. (VMS) that provides VMS with the potential to earn a 100% interest in a HudBay property in the Reed Lake area of the Flin Flon Greenstone Belt, near Snow Lake, Manitoba.
The property comprises Claim Block CB 5503 (377 hectares) and Claim Block FRE 5030 (196 hectares).
"This agreement provides HudBay further leverage to our exploration spending beyond the $45 million we have earmarked for 2007," said Peter Jones, President and Chief Executive Officer. "If VMS makes a significant discovery, HudBay can earn a majority interest in the property through back-in rights."
Under the agreement, VMS, a Vancouver-based mineral exploration company, is required to make cash payments of $55,000 to HudBay and incur exploration expenditures of $300,000 over a three-year term. Upon exercise of the option by VMS to fully acquire the property, HudBay retains a 2% net smelter return royalty. As an alternative to the royalty, HudBay may elect to exercise successive back-in rights. If all these rights are exercised over time, it enables the company to retain up to a 70% interest in the property by making certain exploration expenditures, a one-time cash payment of $1.5 million and bringing the property to commercial production.
With the VMS agreement, HudBay now has option agreements in place with four mineral exploration companies in the Flin Flon Greenstone Belt where the company holds approximately 400,000 hectares of exploration lands and has three underground mines, two ore concentrators as well as metallurgical plants. Historically, the company has discovered 25 mines and produced in excess of 150 million ore tonnes from this area.
About HudBay Minerals Inc.
HudBay is an integrated mining company operating mines, concentrators and a metal production facility in northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan. HudBay also owns a zinc oxide production facility in Ontario, the White Pine copper refinery in Michigan and the Balmat zinc mine operations in New York state. HudBay is a member of the S&P/TSX Composite Index and a member of the S&P/TSX Global Mining Index.
(HBM-G)
For further information:
Brad Woods
Director, Investor Relations
Tel: (204) 949-4272
brad.woods@hbms.ca
www.hudbayminerals.com
Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, information with respect to the option agreement entered into with VMS Ventures Inc. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "does not anticipate", or "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will be taken", "occur", or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of HudBay, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including risks associated with the mining industry such as future commodity prices, economic factors as they effect exploration and development, government regulation, environmental risks, success of exploration activities, permitting time lines, capital expenditures, risks associated with option agreements, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in HudBay's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2006, available on www.sedar.com. Although HudBay has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. HudBay does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
VMS Ventures Release
Vancouver, B.C. August 8, 2007. VMS Ventures Inc. (TSX.V: VMS) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has finalized the terms of an option agreement whereby it can earn a 100% interest in Claim Blocks CB 5503 (377ha) and FRE 5030 (196ha) near Snow Lake, Manitoba from HudBay Minerals Inc (TSX: HBM).
The agreement requires the Company to make cash payments of $55,000 and exploration expenditures of $300,000 over a term of three (3) years. Subject to the Company's completion of these expenditures, HudBay Minerals Inc. can elect to exercise a back-in right that enables it to earn up to a 70% interest in the property by making certain exploration expenditures, a one-time cash payment of $1,500,000 and bringing the property to commercial production.
These claims are contiguous to the Company's Reed Lake project and contain HudBay's Cu-Zn Highway Zone that was originally discovered by Freeport Exploration in 1974. The property is located 52 km southwest of Snow Lake MB. The property has historical drilling information to assist in exploration planning.
VMS Ventures Inc. is focused on acquiring, exploring and developing copper-zinc properties in the Flin Flon-Snow Lake VMS Belt. The Company also holds the largest package of land considered prospective for nickel-copper mineralization at Lynn Lake, which, historically, is Canada's third largest nickel producing camp. The Company's project portfolio consists of the Snow Lake VMS project, the Lynn Lake Gabbros nickel-copper project, the South Bay nickel-copper-cobalt PGE property, and the Eden Lake Carbonatite Complex, Specialty Metals property. All VMS Ventures Inc. properties are located in the mining friendly province of Manitoba, Canada.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD:
Rick Mark
CEO & Chairman
For further information contact:
Keith Patey, Director of Communications Coal Harbor Communications
Telephone: (604) 986-2020 Steve Kubota
Toll Free: 1-866-816-0118 Telephone: (604) 662-3237
Or visit the website at www.vmsventures.com Toll Free: 1-866-405-3955 |