Company also hires Supply Chain Manager
& reports internal promotions
Issued Capital: 300,085,257
LONDON, ON, June 21, 2017 /CNW/ - Fortune Minerals Limited
(TSX: FT) (OTCQX: FTMDF) ("Fortune" or
the "Company") (www.fortuneminerals.com) is pleased to
announce that Mr. Glen Koropchuk has
been appointed to the position of Technical Director and Chief
Operating Officer ("COO") to lead development of the NICO
Cobalt-Gold-Bismuth-Copper Project. Mr. Koropchuk, who is also a
director of the Company, has decades of global mineral industry
experience, including more than 27 years within the Anglo American
Plc ("Anglo") group of companies, most recently as COO of De Beers
Canada Inc. His experience in Canada's North is particularly important to
Fortune as it prepares to construct its vertically integrated NICO
development, comprised of a mine, mill and concentrator in the
Northwest Territories ("NT") and a
related refinery near Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan. NICO is one of the world's few near-term
primary cobalt assets positioned to meet the growing demand for
cobalt in lithium-ion batteries needed for transformative
automotive electrification and stationary storage of power from the
electrical grid. The NICO Mineral Reserves also contain 1.11
million ounces of gold and 12% of global bismuth reserves.
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Mahendra Naik, Chairman of
Fortune Minerals Limited commented, "Mr. Koropchuk's extensive mine
development and operations knowledge from around the world,
including his experience in Canada's North, will be pivotal to the Company
as it prepares for construction and operations at the NICO
Cobalt-Gold-Bismuth-Copper Project."
Glen Koropchuk has a B.Sc. in
Mining Engineering and a M.Sc. in Mineral Engineering from the
University of Alberta. He joined Anglo
in 1989 where he amassed considerable experience in Mine
Operations, Project Development and Corporate Social Investment at
coal mines and gold mines in South
Africa, the Ampari gold project in Brazil, the Sadiola Hill and Morila gold mines
in Mali, Trans-Siberian Gold in
Russia, as Head of Operational
Performance at Anglo's coal mines in British Columbia, Venezuela and Colombia, and as CEO of Peace River Coal in
Canada. As COO of De Beers Canada
Inc., Glen was responsible for delivering safe, operational
excellence from the Snap Lake and Victor diamond mines and led the
permitting, Aboriginal engagement, and project management for
construction of the Gahcho Kué diamond mine in Canada's north. His diverse background and
experience with projects in the NT, including delivery of the
Gahcho Kué mine on time and budget, makes him ideally suited to
lead the development of NICO.
Fortune is also pleased to announce that Sherry Tunks has re-joined the Company in the
position of Supply Chain Manager. Sherry has 15 years of
supply chain experience within the mining, automotive supply and
manufacturing industries and is responsible for purchasing, and
supply chain management for the Company.
Richard Schryer, Ph.D., has been
promoted to the position of Vice President of Regulatory and
Environmental Affairs. Dr. Schryer is an aquatic scientist with
more than 30 years of experience in environmental studies,
monitoring, Aboriginal engagement, environmental assessments
("EA's) and permitting, including successful completion of the NICO
mine and refinery EA's and receipt of the major mine permits. Rick
continues to supervise environmental, Aboriginal and regulatory
permitting issues for the Company.
Patricia Penney, B.Com. (Hon.
Accounting), C.P.A., C.A. has been promoted to the position of
Controller from her previous position as Financial and Accounting
Manager since 2013. Patricia is responsible for the Company's
accounting, financial reporting and other functions, reporting to
Dave Massola, Fortune's Vice
President Finance and CFO.
Fortune's Annual and Special Meeting of shareholders will be
held at the offices of Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, Royal Bank
Plaza, South Tower, 200 Bay Street, Suite 3800, Toronto, Ontario, M5J 2Z4 on Wednesday June 21, 2017, at 4:30pm (Toronto Time). All shareholder are
invited to attend. Following the formal proceedings, there will an
update on NICO's progress and the cobalt market. Additional details
can be found in the Investor Briefcase on the Company's
website.
About NICO
NICO is a proposed Canadian, vertically
integrated, primary producer of cobalt chemicals, gold, bismuth
metal and oxide, with copper as a minor by-product. Fortune has
expended more than $116 million
advancing this project from an in-house discovery in 1996 to an
essentially shovel-ready development project. The NICO Mineral
Reserves total 33 million metric tonnes to support an estimated
21-year mine life and have been validated through test mining,
pilot plant processing, and full Feasibility and Front-End
Engineering and Design studies. NICO has received EA approvals in
the NT and Saskatchewan and the
major mine permits. The Feasibility study completed for the NICO
development in 2014 is being updated by Hatch Ltd. and Micon
International Limited to assess project economics at current
capital and operating costs, commodity price assumptions and
currency exchange rates.
At the NICO mine site in the NT, Fortune is currently completing
the Supplemental Baseline Monitoring Plan work required by
Wek'eezhii Land and Water Board and improving and expanding roads
and lay-down areas in preparation for the arrival of supplies and
materials in the upcoming winter road seasons.
Fortune is advancing its work with PricewaterhouseCoopers
Corporate Finance Canada to arrange the project financing needed
for NICO's development in a macro-environment of cobalt shortages
and price escalation, primarily attributed to expanded use in
rechargeable batteries. The price of high-grade cobalt cathode is
currently quoted on Metals Bulletin near US$30/lb and the premium for cobalt units in
sulphate was recently more than 25%.
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. 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 Cobalt-Gold-Bismuth-Copper Project in
the NT 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
have been 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 and operate the NICO project (including the Company's
plans to secure project financing to start construction.
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, the economic
environment in which the Company will operate in the future,
including the price of gold, cobalt, bismuth and other by-product
metals, anticipated costs and factors affecting the future demand
for and supply of mineral commodities). 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 market for rechargeable batteries
and the use of stationary storage cells may not grow to the extent
anticipated, the Company's production of cobalt 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.
SOURCE Fortune Minerals Limited
