BDO has been appointed as the Company's
Auditor to reduce administrative expenditures
Issued Capital: 227,077,580
LONDON, ON, Jan. 8, 2016 /CNW/ - Fortune Minerals Limited
(TSX: FT) (OTCQX: FTMDF) ("Fortune" or
the "Company") (www.fortuneminerals.com) is pleased to
report that SGS Canada Inc. ("SGS") has produced a premium high
purity cobalt sulphate heptahydrate sample from cobalt sulphate
product previously produced for the Company in a pilot plant from
concentrates originating from the NICO Gold-Cobalt-Bismuth-Copper
deposit ore. This premium grade ultra-pure sample exceeds the
chemical specifications for cobalt sulphate heptahydrate received
from several large manufacturers of lithium ion batteries. SGS
produced the sample to provide product for testing by a potential
off-take customer. The sample was also produced to test minor
changes to the process flow sheet the Company plans to utilize at
its proposed refinery near Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan. Fortune continues to advance discussions for
off-take agreements for its cobalt product with potential customers
to support project financing.
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NICO is a planned vertically integrated project comprised of a
mine and concentrator in the Northwest
Territories and refinery near Saskatoon where the Company plans to process
concentrates from the mine to higher value products including gold,
cobalt sulphate, bismuth metals and oxide, and copper. The cobalt
market is now approximately 100,000 tonnes per annum and has had a
compound average annual growth rate of approximately 6% over the
past two decades. Most of this increase in consumption is
attributed to the use of cobalt in high performance rechargeable
batteries for portable electronic devices, electric vehicles and
stationary storage cells. Batteries now account for 46% of cobalt
demand – having increased from only 1% of the market in the mid
1990's. The battery market continues to expand with wider usage of
portable electronic devices and growing popularity of electric
vehicles. Significant growth in the market is also expected from
stationary storage cells connected to intermittent energy sources
such as wind and solar generators, and off-peak charging from the
electrical grid. The Paris Agreement on climate change at
COP21 and other environmental
initiatives support the shift to electrification to reduce
carbon-based greenhouse gas emissions.
The NICO deposit also contains a significant gold co-product and
12% of global bismuth reserves. Bismuth is a metal used in a broad
range of industrial applications, particularly in the automotive
and pharmaceutical sectors. It is also an environmentally safe
replacement for lead which is subject to lead-toxicity concerns and
legislation banning its use in potable drinking water sources and
consumer products in some jurisdictions. Bismuth is replacing lead
in solders, brasses, steel, aluminum and zinc galvanizing alloys,
as well as paint pigments and ceramic glazes. The NICO project has
already been assessed in a positive feasibility study and it has
received its water license and land use permit following the
environmental assessment approval in the Northwest Territories. The Saskatchewan refinery has also obtained
environmental assessment approval.
Fortune is also pleased to announce that it has appointed BDO
Canada LLP ("BDO"), Chartered Accountants, as auditors of the
Company for the December 31, 2015
fiscal year. This change in the Company's auditors was made as a
cost control measure to reduce administrative expenditures. A
reporting package with respect to the change of auditors has been
filed with the regulators and will be included in the management
materials sent to shareholders for the next annual general meeting
of the Company.
About Fortune Minerals
Fortune is a Canadian development stage mining company focused
on advancing the vertically integrated NICO
gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper project in the Northwest Territories and a related refinery
the Company plans to construct in Saskatchewan. Fortune also owns the Sue-Dianne
copper-silver-gold deposit located 25 km north of NICO and is a
potential future source of incremental mill feed. Additionally, the
Company maintains the right to repurchase the Arctos anthracite
coal deposits in northwest British
Columbia that were recently purchased by a provincial Crown
corporation.
The disclosure of scientific and technical information contained
in this press release has been approved by Robin Goad, M.Sc., P.Geo., President and CEO of
Fortune, who is a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument
43-101.
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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 Company's plans
to develop NICO and anticipated growth in the market for
rechargeable batteries and the use of stationary storage cells.
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 Company's ability to arrange the necessary financing to
continue operations and the development of 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 Company may not be able to arrange the necessary financing
to continue operations, and that the Company may not be able to
finance and develop NICO on favourable terms or at all and that the
market for rechargeable batteries and the use of stationary storage
cells may not grow to the extent anticipated. 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.
SOURCE Fortune Minerals Limited
