Prairie

Toronto-based junior McVicar Minerals (MVR-V) and Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP-N) will jointly explore for nickel and platinum-group-element deposits in North America, particularly in the Lake Superior region.

Under the terms of a letter-of-agreement, McVicar and a unit of BHP will spend up to $3 million over the next three years at a 1-to-4 ratio, respectively.

The partners will begin by spending $500,000 on research and acquisitions, with McVicar serving as operator until a significant discovery is made, at which time BHP will take over.

The partners will also be working with geophysical consulting firm Patterson, Grant & Watson.

In 1998, BHP backed McVicar’s search for possible nickel projects in China. At the time, BHP subscribed for 200,000 McVicar shares at $1.25 — a sum that remains in the junior’s treasury and is still earmarked for Chinese projects.

At the end of McVicar’s fiscal year, on Nov. 30, 1999, the company was free of debt and, in addition to BHP’s $250,000, had $146,608 in cash and term deposits plus $235,920 in short-term investments.

In fiscal 1999, McVicar incurred a net loss of $132,693 (or 3 per share) on investment income of $71,984, compared with the previous year’s loss of $156,390 (3 per share) on investment income of $25,637.

During the year, McVicar wrote down its investment in the Yinshan gold-copper property in China after deciding not to prepare a feasibility study of the project.