Public road will enable NICO Mine
operations as Fortune seeks financing for construction
Issued Capital: 270,899,007
LONDON, ON, Jan. 12, 2017 /CNW/ - Fortune Minerals Limited
(TSX: FT) (OTCQX: FTMDF) ("Fortune" or
the "Company") (www.fortuneminerals.com) is pleased to
report that the Government of Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories ("GNWT") and the
Tlicho Government have jointly announced federal funding for the
construction of the Tlicho All-Season Road ("TASR") to the
community of Whati (See January 11,
2017 news release link). The federal government will provide
up to 25 per cent of the construction costs for this road through
the P3 Canada Fund. Procurement of the TASR - through a GNWT
Public-Private-Partnership, will start with the release of the
Request for Qualifications in February
2017, and will be followed by a Request for Proposal and
bids from private industry to provide combined finance and
construction.
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Whati is located 50 km south of Fortune's proposed NICO
Cobalt-Gold-Bismuth-Copper Mine, which has already received its
environmental assessment approval and the major mine permits for
construction, including a 50 km spur road to Whati. The TASR is a
critical enabler for mine operations and will allow the Company to
truck metal concentrates south to the rail head at Hay River for railway delivery to its proposed
refinery in Saskatchewan for
downstream processing to value added products. With development of
the NICO Project, Fortune would become an important supplier of
cobalt chemicals needed to manufacture lithium-ion batteries used
in portable electronic devices, electric vehicles and stationary
storage cells. The NICO mineral reserves also contain more than
1.11 million ounces of gold and 12% of global bismuth reserves.
David Massola, Fortune's Vice
President of Finance and CFO, commented, "With cobalt and gold
prices firming, and greater certainty of an all-season road,
Fortune is well-positioned to secure the financing needed to begin
construction of the NICO mine."
David Ramsay, a Fortune director
and former GNWT Cabinet Minister, said, "This investment in public
infrastructure addresses concerns over the reliability, safety and
high annual costs of maintaining winter ice roads for Tlicho
community re-supply and socio-economic connectivity. This
all-season connection of Whati to the Northwest Territories public highway system
will reduce the cost of living and improve the delivery of services
in the outlying Tlicho communities. It will also help diversify the
economy by providing commutable employment to the NICO Mine and
nearby Snare Hydro Complex, while reducing the cost of future hydro
expansions, and promote mineral exploration and development and
tourism."
About the Tlicho All-Season Road:
The TASR will consist of approximately 97 km of a new 2-lane
road from Highway 3 to the community of Whati, and includes four
new bridges and one large arched culvert. The GNWT Department of
Transportation has been working closely with the Tlicho Government
since 2012 on the TASR initiative to provide reliable year-round
all-weather public road access to the community of Whati and
improved winter road access to the communities of Gameti and
Wekweti. The routing for the TASR
follows an existing brownfield land-based winter road route to
minimize environmental disturbance and lower construction costs.
The project is currently in the late stages of environmental
assessment led by the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review
Board and is expected to be completed this summer. Confirmation
that funding is now available will inform the environmental
assessment process in terms of timing for construction.
About NICO:
Fortune owns a 100% interest in the NICO
Cobalt-Gold-Bismuth-Copper project, a planned Canadian vertically
integrated producer of cobalt chemicals for the lithium-ion battery
industry, with gold and bismuth co-products, and copper as a minor
by-product. More than $115 million
has been spent by Fortune advancing this project from an in-house
discovery in the mid-1990's to a development asset with a positive
feasibility study and environmental assessment approvals for both
the mine and concentrator in the Northwest Territories and refinery in
Saskatchewan. NICO has also been
test mined and pilot plant processed to mitigate development risks,
Front-End Engineering and Design ("FEED") studies have been
completed with detailed engineering for procurement, and the
Company has an execution plan for project delivery. Fortune is
working to secure off-take agreements and project financing to
commence construction.
NICO has proven and probable mineral reserves totaling more than
33 million tonnes that will support a 21-year mine life at a
planned mill throughput rate of 4,650 metric tonnes of ore per day.
Approximately 180 wet tonnes of bulk concentrate are planned to be
produced per day containing the recoverable metals for shipment
south to the refinery in Saskatchewan and downstream processing to
value-added metals and chemicals. Life of mine average annual
production is projected to be 41,300 ounces of gold, 1,615 tonnes
of cobalt contained in a battery grade cobalt sulphate, 1,750
tonnes of bismuth contained in metal ingots and oxide powder, and
265 tonnes of copper.
The disclosure of scientific and technical information contained
in this press release has been approved by Robin Goad, M.Sc., P.Geo., President and Chief
Executive Officer of Fortune, who is a "Qualified Person" under
National Instrument 43-101. The technical report on the feasibility
study referred to above, 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, from which certain information in this
press release has been extracted, has been filed on SEDAR and is
available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.
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 a
potential future source of incremental mill feed to extend the life
of the NICO mill. The Company also maintains the right to
repurchase the Arctos anthracite coal deposits in northwest
British Columbia that were
recently purchased by a provincial Crown corporation.
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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 the NICO project and the proposed construction of the
TASR. 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 develop the NICO
project and the construction of the TASR). 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 finance and develop NICO on
favourable terms or at all, the TASR may not be constructed within
the anticipated time frame 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.
SOURCE Fortune Minerals Limited
