Botwood Basin

[Ed Monton]

Vulcan Minerals options out its Newfoundland properties:

Vulcan Minerals Inc. Quick Quote: V.VUL 0.19 (+0.02)
Options out Newfoundland Gold and Labrador Nickel Properties
5/30/03

Vulcan Minerals Inc. ('the Company') is pleased to announce that it has optioned its TL Nickel-Copper-Platinum Group Element Property in Labrador and its Little River Gold Property in Newfoundland to Nortec Venture Corp (Nortec).
TL-Nickel-Copper-PGE Option

Nortec may earn a 51% interest in the property by expending 1.5 million dollars on the property and making payments of $100,000 cash over 5 years. Upon acceptance of the agreement by the TSX Venture Exchange, Nortec will issue to Vulcan 500,000 common shares and 500,000 share-purchase warrants exercisable at $0.20 in the first year and $0.25 in the second year. An additional 200,000 shares of Nortec is payable at the end of the 5th anniversary of the agreement. If Nortec earns a 51% interest Vulcan has the option to elect to participate in a joint venture as to its 49% interest or Vulcan may allow Nortec to earn an additional 24% interest (total of 75%) by issuing 200,000 shares to Vulcan and expending $5,000,000 over 3 years. If Nortec earns a 75% interest Vulcan has the option to elect to participate in a joint venture as to its 25% interest or Vulcan may allow Nortec to earn an additional 15% interest (total 90%) by issuing 200,000 shares to Vulcan and expending $5,000,000 over 3 years whereupon Vulcan's remaining 10% interest would convert to a 2.5% net smelter return interest. If Vulcan elects to participate as a joint venture contributor at any time after Nortec earns its 51% interest Nortec may elect to convert its interest to a 2.5% net smelter return interest. Nortec will be the operator of the project. The agreement is subject to receipt by Vulcan of a refundable security deposit from Nortec.

The TL Property is situated approximately 50 kilometres northwest of the Voisey's Bay nickel-copper-cobalt discovery. The Voisey's Bay mine is presently under development. The TL Property has one of the best series of drill intersections for nickel in Labrador outside of the Voisey's Bay discovery. For example, drilling by a previous operator intersected 23.7 metres of 0.47% nickel (Ni), 0.16% Copper (Cu) including 5.2 metres of 1.15% Ni, 0.42% Cu, 0.11 gram/tonne Palladium and 0.25 gram/tonne Platinum. This zone of mineralization outcrops at surface and has been traced by drilling and geophysics over a 1.2 kilometre strike length. Several coincident magnetic and electro-magnetic geophysical anomalies have been located on the property and require drill testing, including a UTEM anomaly covering a strike length in excess of 1.8 kilometres.

Little River Gold Option

Nortec may earn a 51% interest in the property by expending 1.5 million dollars on the property and making payments of $100,000 cash over 5 years. Upon acceptance of the agreement by the TSX Venture Exchange, Nortec will issue to Vulcan 300,000 common shares and 300,000 share-purchase warrants exercisable at $0.20 in the first year and $0.25 in the second year. An additional 200,000 shares is payable to Vulcan at the end of the 5th anniversary of the agreement. If Nortec earns a 51% interest, Vulcan has the option to elect to participate in a joint venture as to its 49% interest, or Vulcan may allow Nortec to earn an additional 24% interest (total of 75%) by issuing 200,000 shares to Vulcan and expending $5,000,000 over 3 years. If Nortec earns a 75% interest Vulcan has the option to elect to participate in a joint venture as to its 25% interest or Vulcan may allow Nortec to earn an additional 15% interest (total 90%) by issuing 200,000 shares to Vulcan and expending $5,000,000 over 3 years whereupon Vulcan's remaining 10% interest would convert to a 2.5% net smelter royalty interest. If Vulcan elects to participate as a joint venture contributor at any time after Nortec earns its 51% interest, Nortec may elect to convert its interest to a 2.5% net smelter return interest. Nortec will be the operator of the project.

Nortec and Vulcan have agreed that if Nortec, for some reason, cannot fulfill its $100,000 first year work commitment on the TL option (above) then Nortec can spend that $100,000 on the Little River Property in addition to its $100,000 first year commitment on the Little River option.

The Little River Gold Property covers 490 claims and is situated in Central Newfoundland where significant exploration is ongoing for gold. The property covers approximately 30 kilometres of strike length along two gold bearing Ordovician aged units. Gold is associated with carbonatized intermediate tuffs and secondary antimony-quartz veins. Regionally, the host rocks may be correlative with the Hope Brook Gold Mine (approximately two million ounces gold) in southwestern Newfoundland. Surface samples have yielded 12.3 grams/tonne and 13.7 grams/tonne gold at the Bowers Tickle and Long Jacks Bight showings. Previous drill intersections included 5.81 grams/tonne gold over 2.5 metres in hole DDH-87-04 and 2.38 grams/tonne gold over 8.2 metres in hole DDH-87-09. Numerous gold-in-soil anomalies exceeding 100 ppb gold remain untested and require trenching and/or drilling.

Exploration plans for both properties will be announced as they are formalized. Both option agreements are subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Background

Nortec Ventures Corp. is a Vancouver based capital pool company with presently 2.5 million shares outstanding, trading under the symbol NVT on the TSX Venture Exchange. The company President is Mohan Vulimiri, M.Sc., P.Geo. a highly respected exploration geologist who is also Chairman of Frontier Pacific Mining Corporation. The acquisition of the TL Property is intended to be a qualifying transaction pursuant to the capital pool company rules of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Vulcan Minerals Inc. is a Newfoundland based exploration company engaged in the petroleum exploration of the unexplored Bay St. George Basin in western Newfoundland and the exploration of strategic mineral properties in Newfoundland and Labrador. These agreements with Nortec provide Vulcan shareholders with exploration exposure to gold and nickel (Voisey's Bay area) as well as its ongoing oil exploration.



CONTACT: TEL: [phone] Mr. Patrick Laracy, President of Vulcan Minerals Inc.

FAX: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

Internet: www.vulcanminerals.ca