Resource World Magazine

28 www.resourceworld.com F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 1 5 i n s i g h t s & i n v e s t m e n t s B a r r y M u i r W hen Resource World maga- zine asked me to submit my column for this issue, I immedi- ately thought of north american nickel Inc. [NAN-TSXV; WSCRF-OTCQB] whose methodical approach to exploration has paid off in shareholder commitment. The com- pany was formed four years ago by rolling out nickel properties from VMs Ventures Inc. [VMS-TSXV]. North American Nickel started out exploring for nickel and copper in the Sudbury Basin Camp. Currently, they are focused on the 100%-owned Maniitsoq property on the southwest coast of Greenland. The 3,601 km 2 property includes the 75 km x 15 km Greenland Norite Belt with over 100 conductive zones. It is within this vast belt that NAN's experienced management team has uncov- ered significant nickel-copper-cobalt-PGM sulphide mineralization from three norite intrusions (the Imiak Hill Complex) all within a 2 km range. Results to date, found in semi-massive to massive sulphides, have been encour- aging to management and investors alike. Exploration began in the summer of 2012. By using helicopter EM (VTEM) survey technology rather than fixed-wing, they were able to detect conductors not seen by historical airborne EM surveys. To date, only 25% of the property has been explored. Investors will be watching closely for new targets within and outside the belt to display similar results as reported in the preceding three seasons. Greenland is a democratic, pro-mining country with a transparent regulatory system, competitive mining tax and no land claim issues. The southwest coast of Greenland is pack-ice free, year-round and has a relatively mild climate that would allow for year-round mining and shipping of concentrate from modern, well serviced container ports. There is more than one way to participate in the potential of the Maniitsoq Project; by simply becoming a North American Nickel shareholder or by becoming a shareholder in VMS Ventures. VMS owns 22% of NAN and has both production and exploration properties in mining-friendly Manitoba. At the time of writing, NAN had a market cap of $35 million with approximately $6.3 million in cash while VMS also had a mar- ket cap of $35 million with $4.1 million in cash as stated in each company's website. Owning NAN gives you full exposure to the Maniitsoq. Owning VMS gives you expo- sure through their holdings in NAN, plus you have a hedge with the Reed Copper Mine owned 30% by VMS Ventures and 70% by hudBay Minerals Inc. [HBM- TSX, NYSE]. NAN and VMS have always been closely linked sharing two key direc- tors, John Roozendaal who was directly involved in the Reed Copper discovery and Mark Fedikow, past Chief Geologist of the Mineral Deposits Section in Manitoba. Mark is a recipient of the Canadian national award for outstanding geoscientific achievement. VMS Ventures has carefully assembled a portfolio of base metal properties in the prolific Snow Lake portion of the Flin Flon- Snow Lake Greenstone Belt in Manitoba. This belt has hosted more than 20 depos- its which have produced over $29 billion worth of ore. The company has become the second largest landholder in the belt behind HudBay Minerals. Early success came after VTEM airborne surveys uncovered targets at Reed Lake. The original drilling results, in October of 2007, were enough to create a buying frenzy of VMS shares that ran from $0.15 to $1.75 in days. Highlights from those results were 10.5 metres of 11.19% cop- north american nickel: a greenland explorer Vms Ventures: a manitoba producer and explorer The Reed Mine, located 45 km southeast of Snow Lake, Manitoba, is owned 30% by VMS Ventures and 70% by HudBay Minerals. Photo courtesy VMS Ventures Inc.

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