Nickel miner looking for money to start up mine .

Ursa Major Minerals is searching for financing to re-open its Shakespeare Nickel Copper open pit mine in January.

The Toronto-based miner said in a Dec. 15 news that it expects to process 200,000 tonnes of ore in 2010 when it resumes operations in early January.

However, it's contingent on arranging financing for capital at the mine, located 70 kilometres west of Sudbury. The mine, which entered into pre-production in 2008, was placed on care and maintenance this year.

The company made more than $740,000 in metal sales from its test mining programs in 2008 and shipped about 10,000 tonnes this year. No revenue was reported for the three-month quarter, ending Oct. 31.

The Toronto-based miner signed a letter of intent with Xstrata Nickel in Sudbury to process ore at the Strathcona mill. The agreement is for only 24 months and has provisions to allow for early termination by either party.

The company is also exploring potential high-grade nickel sulphide targets on a property northwest of Sudbury