VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 06/04/12 -- Lara Exploration Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: LRA) ("Lara" or the "Company") is pleased to report that it has signed a Letter of Intent ("the Agreement") with Focus Graphite Inc. ("Focus"), whereby Focus can earn up to a 60% interest in Lara's wholly-owned Caninde Graphite Project ("the Project") in Ceara State, northeast Brazil.
Focus can earn an initial 51% interest in the Project by spending $2.5 million on exploration (including a minimum of 2,000 metres of drilling) of the Project within three years of signing a definitive agreement ($500,000 in each of the first two years and $1,500,000 in the third year) and issuing 500,000 common shares to Lara (100,000 shares on signing the definitive agreement and 400,000 shares by the third anniversary thereof). Focus can then elect to earn an additional 9% (for a total of 60%) in the Project by investing a further $4.5 million on exploration (including a minimum of 5,000 metres of drilling) and by delivering a Preliminary Economic Assessment within two years. The Agreement is binding on both parties, but subject to a 60 day due diligence period, approval of the Boards of both companies and TSX Venture Exchange approval. The parties propose to complete the definitive agreement by August 31st, 2012.
The Caninde Graphite Project comprises 15,615 hectares of exploration licenses accessible on paved highways from the state capital, Fortaleza. Reconnaissance work by Lara has identified a number of anomalous weathered bedrock outcrops with massive flake graphite bodies up to approximately 10 meters wide, associated with wider zones of lower-grade disseminated graphite flake occurrences along a 16 kilometre long, north-northwest trending zone within the property (see Company news releases of December 05, 2011 and April 11, 2012).
Focus will act as the operator of the Caninde project exploration program throughout the duration of the Agreement.
Quality Control
Michael Bennell, Lara's Vice President Exploration and a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (FAusIMM), is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and has approved, and is responsible for the preparation and verification of the technical information in this release.
About Lara
Lara is an exploration company following the Prospect Generator business model, which aims to minimize shareholder dilution and financial risk by generating prospects and then exploring them in joint ventures funded by partners. The Company currently holds a diverse portfolio of prospects and deposits primarily in Brazil and Peru where it has signed agreements for fifteen joint ventures. Lara's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "LRA".
For further information on Lara Exploration Ltd. please consult our website www.laraexploration.com.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Lara Exploration Ltd.
Chris MacIntyre
VP Corporate Development
+1 416 703 0010
www.laraexploration.com
