Government easing travel restrictions enabling
geophysical work on identified gold targets
Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQB: FTMDF)
(“Fortune” or the “Company”)
(www.fortuneminerals.com) is pleased to report that restrictions on
travel imposed by the Northwest Territories Government for the
Covid-19 pandemic have been eased, allowing work to resume on the
Company’s 100% owned NICO Gold-Cobalt-Bismuth-Copper Project
(“NICO Project”). The NICO Project, located 160 kilometres
northwest of Yellowknife, contains an Iron Oxide Copper-Gold
(“IOCG”) type ore deposit with Proven and Probable Open Pit
and Underground Mineral Reserves totaling 33 million tonnes
containing 1.1 million ounces of gold, 82.3 million pounds of
cobalt, 102.1 million pounds of bismuth and 27.2 million pounds of
copper (“NICO Deposit”). With the price of gold above
US$2,000 per ounce, gold now contributes more projected revenues
than cobalt from the planned development, a distinct attribute that
makes the NICO Project stand out relative to other global cobalt
projects.
Fortune is also pleased to report that it has been awarded a
matching grant of $144,000 from the Northwest Territories
Government through the Mining Incentive Program. These funds will
be used to support geophysical surveys planned at the NICO Project
site this summer with work focused on targets with identified gold
potential.
Robin Goad, President and CEO of Fortune, commented, “With more
than a million ounces of in-situ gold, the NICO Deposit is a unique
Critical Mineral project, particularly among other planned cobalt
developments needed to supply energy metals for the transformation
to electric vehicles.”
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For more detailed information about the NICO Mineral Reserves
and certain technical information in this news release, please
refer to the Technical Report on the NICO Project, entitled
"Technical Report on the Feasibility Study for the
NICO-Gold-Cobalt-Bismuth-Copper Project, Northwest Territories,
Canada", dated April 2, 2014 and prepared by Micon International
Limited which has been filed on SEDAR and is available under the
Company's profile at www.sedar.com.
Planned Exploration:
Induced polarization and ground magnetometer surveys will be
carried out over the 1.2 kilometre wide Peanut Lake combined
magnetic, gravity and magnetotelluric anomaly to identify targets
for drilling. The Peanut Lake anomaly is centered one kilometre
southeast of the NICO Deposit and is believed to represent the
fault displaced, east strike extension of the deposit. This is the
strongest magnetic feature on the NICO leases with peak amplitude
of 10,000 nanoteslas, and also has coincident 2 milligal gravity
and magnetotelluric response. Gravity, magnetic and magnetotelluric
surveys are commonly used to identify IOCG systems around the
world, including the ‘supergiant’ Olympic Dam deposit in South
Australia. The Peanut Lake anomaly is primarily covered by wetlands
and overburden, but three-dimensional inversion modelling by the
Geological Survey of Canada indicates that the cause is a
near-surface dense, magnetic and conductive source.
In 1997, Fortune drilled several holes immediately to the north
of the Peanut Lake anomaly. Gold was intersected in five of these
holes with minimum grades of 1 gram per tonne over 3 metre core
lengths, including one hole, which intersected 3 metres, grading
1.105 grams of gold per tonne and 0.355% cobalt. These holes
indicate that gold and cobalt enrichment continue in this part of
the mineralized system.
In 2019, Fortune exposed bedrock with sulphide mineralization at
the bottom of pits dug for road construction aggregate along the
south periphery of the Peanut Lake anomaly. Representative grab
samples collected from these rocks returned grades of 1.5% and 1.6%
copper.
Most of the Peanut Lake anomaly occurs beneath a one kilometre
area of wetlands and overburden between these two areas of known
mineralization. The objective of the geophysical work is to
identify concentrations of conductive sulphides within the broader
magnetic anomaly beneath this overburden that may represent the
east strike extension of the NICO Deposit.
Tlicho All-Season Road Progress:
The Northwest Territories Government and North Star
Infrastructure, with 25% funding contribution from the federal
government, continue to progress construction ahead of schedule for
the 97-kilometre Tlicho All-Season Road from Highway 3 to the
community of Whati. The approaches and decking for the bridge over
the La Martre River are now well advanced, and when this work is
complete, will allow construction equipment to navigate the entire
route to Whati. The Tlicho Road, together with Fortune’s planned
50-kilometre spur road to the mine site, are key enablers for the
NICO Project that will allow trucking of metal concentrates to the
railway at Hay River for delivery to the refinery in southern
Canada for processing to value added products.
NICO Project:
The NICO Project is an advanced development asset comprised of a
planned mine and concentrator in the Northwest Territories and a
related refinery in southern Canada where metal concentrates would
be processed to gold doré, cobalt sulphate, bismuth ingots and
oxide, and copper precipitate. In addition to the gold contained in
the NICO Deposit, cobalt and bismuth are identified on the United
States and European Union Critical Minerals Lists. Minerals
considered critical for this purpose have essential use in
important manufacturing and defense industries, cannot be easily
substituted by other minerals, and their supply chains are
vulnerable due to geographic concentration of production and/or
geopolitical risks. Cobalt in particular is used to make the
cathodes of lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles,
portable electronic devices and store energy in stationary cells to
make electricity use more efficient and permit renewable energy use
in grid base load. The NICO Project has received environmental
assessment approval and the major mine permits for the facilities
in the Northwest Territories and has also been assessed in a
positive Feasibility Study by Micon International Limited in 2014
(see Fortune news release, dated April 2, 2014).
The disclosure of scientific and technical information contained
in this news release has been approved by Robin Goad, M.Sc.,
P.Geo., President and Chief Executive Officer of Fortune, and
Dustin Reinders, B.Sc., P.Eng., Project Engineer, who are
"Qualified Persons" under National Instrument 43-101.
About Fortune Minerals:
Fortune is a Canadian mining company focused on developing the
NICO Gold-Cobalt-Bismuth-Copper Project in the Northwest
Territories. The Company has an option to purchase lands in
Saskatchewan where it may build the hydrometallurgical plant to
process NICO metal concentrates. Fortune also owns the Sue-Dianne
Copper-Silver-Gold Deposit located 25 km north of the NICO Project,
which is a potential future source of incremental mill feed to
extend the life of the NICO Project mill.
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This press release contains forward-looking information and
forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable
securities legislation. This forward-looking information includes
statements with respect to, among other things, the planned
exploration program at Peanut Lake, the construction of the Tlicho
All-Season Road, the Company’s plans to develop the NICO Project
and the potential for the Sue-Dianne property to provide
incremental mill feed to the NICO Project. Forward-looking
information is based on the opinions and estimates of management as
well as certain assumptions at the date the information is given
(including, in respect of the forward-looking information contained
in this press release, assumptions regarding: the timing of the
planned exploration program, the timing of completion of the Tlicho
All-Season Road; the Company’s ability to secure a site in southern
Canada for the construction of a NICO Project refinery; the
Company’s ability to arrange the necessary financing to continue
operations and develop the NICO Project; the receipt of all
necessary regulatory approvals for the construction and operation
of the NICO Project and the related hydrometallurgical refinery and
the timing thereof; growth in the demand for cobalt; the time
required to construct the NICO Project; and the economic
environment in which the Company will operate in the future,
including the price of gold, cobalt and other by-product metals,
anticipated costs and the volumes of metals to be produced at the
NICO Project). However, such forward-looking information is subject
to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that
could cause actual events or results to differ materially from
those projected in the forward-looking information. These factors
include the risks that the Peanut Lake exploration may not proceed
as anticipated, the Tlicho All-Season Road may not be completed in
the anticipated time frame, the NICO Project may not receive the
benefit of any financing under the published initiatives of the
United States and European Union with respect to critical minerals
or any other benefits therefrom, the Company may not be able to
secure a site for the construction of a refinery, the Company may
not be able to finance and develop NICO on favourable terms or at
all, uncertainties with respect to the receipt or timing of
required permits, approvals and agreements for the development of
the NICO Project, including the related hydrometallurgical
refinery, the construction of the NICO Project may take longer than
anticipated, the Company may not be able to secure offtake
agreements for the metals to be produced at the NICO Project, the
Sue-Dianne Property may not be developed to the point where it can
provide mill feed to the NICO Project, the inherent risks involved
in the exploration and development of mineral properties and in the
mining industry in general, the market for products that use cobalt
or bismuth may not grow to the extent anticipated, the future
supply of cobalt and bismuth may not be as limited as anticipated,
the risk of decreases in the market prices of cobalt, bismuth and
other metals to be produced by the NICO Project, discrepancies
between actual and estimated Mineral Resources or between actual
and estimated metallurgical recoveries, uncertainties associated
with estimating Mineral Resources and Reserves and the risk that
even if such Mineral Resources prove accurate the risk that such
Mineral Resources may not be converted into Mineral Reserves once
economic conditions are applied, the Company’s production of
cobalt, bismuth and other metals may be less than anticipated and
other operational and development risks, market risks and
regulatory risks. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance
on forward-looking information because it is possible that
predictions, forecasts, projections and other forms of
forward-looking information will not be achieved by the Company.
The forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the
date hereof and the Company assumes no responsibility to update or
revise it to reflect new events or circumstances, except as
required by law.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200810005308/en/
For further information please contact: Fortune Minerals
Limited Troy Nazarewicz Investor Relations Manager
info@fortuneminerals.com Tel.: (519) 858-8188
www.fortuneminerals.com
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