/NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES/
Issued Capital: 268,149,007
LONDON, ON, Aug. 16, 2016 /CNW/ - Fortune Minerals
Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQX: FTMDF) ("Fortune" or
the "Company") (www.fortuneminerals.com) is pleased to
announce that it has completed a fully subscribed $1,250,000 non-brokered private placement of
units ("Units"). A total of 12,500,000 Units were issued at a
subscription price of $0.10 per Unit.
Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company and one-half
warrant with each whole warrant entitling the holder to purchase
one common share of Fortune at a price of $0.15 for a period of one year. Proceeds of this
financing will be used for general working capital purposes.
Fortune owns the NICO Cobalt-Gold-Bismuth-Copper development
project that is projected to become a Canadian vertically
integrated producer of battery-grade cobalt chemicals for the
lithium-ion battery industry, with gold and bismuth co-products,
and minor by-product copper. 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,
and Front-End Engineering and Design ("FEED") studies have been
completed with sufficient detailed engineering for procurement.
Fortune has an Execution Plan for project delivery and the Company
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.
An attractive economic attribute to the project is a high
concentration ratio that reduces this ore to approximately 180 wet
tonnes of bulk concentrate per day containing the recoverable
metals. The concentrate is planned to be shipped south to the
refinery in Saskatchewan for
downstream processing to value-added metals and chemicals. Life of
mine average annual production is projected to be approximately
41,300 ounces of gold, 1,615 tonnes of cobalt contained in a
battery grade cobalt sulphate heptahydrate, 1,750 tonnes of bismuth
contained in metal ingots and oxide powder, and 265 tonnes of
copper.
The cobalt market has grown at a compounded annual rate ("CAGR")
of approximately 6% over the last two decades and is now
approximately 110,000 tonnes. Most of the growth in demand is due
to the need for cobalt in lithium-ion batteries used to store
energy in portable electronic devices, electric vehicles and
stationary storage cells attached to renewable energy such as wind
turbines and solar generators and off-peak charging from the
electrical grid. Cobalt demand in batteries has grown from about 1%
of a smaller cobalt market in the mid-1990's to approximately 50%
of the market in 2015. Demand growth is expected to increase with
proliferation of automotive electrification and stationary storage
cells enabled for base load due to improvements in battery
technology and lower production costs. At least 12 battery
megafactories have been either announced or are under construction
to meet the expected increase in demand including the Tesla
Gigafactory currently under construction in Nevada. About 65% of cobalt mine production is
in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, a politically unstable country, and 52% of refined
cobalt production is from China.
NICO is planned to be an important new Canadian supplier of cobalt
with supply chain transparency and custody from ore through to the
production of battery chemicals, and tax advantages under the North
American Free Trade Agreement. The more than 1.11 million ounces of
gold in the NICO deposit is also a highly liquid countercyclical
hedge. NICO also contains 12% of global bismuth reserves that also
has supply chain concerns due to the concentration of mine and
refinery bismuth production in China.
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, has been filed on SEDAR and is available
under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a
solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of any
of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer,
solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The securities have not
been and will not be registered under the United States Securities
Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or the
securities laws of any state of the
United States and may not be offered or sold within
the United States unless
registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state
securities laws or pursuant to an exemption from such registration
requirements.
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 NICO (including the Company's plans to secure off-take
agreements and project financing to start construction), the
estimation of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the
realization of mineral reserve estimates and the timing and amount
of estimated future production. 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, present and future business strategies
and the environment in which the Company will operate in the
future, including the price of gold, cobalt and other by-product
metals, anticipated costs and ability to achieve goals). 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 and discrepancies between actual and estimated
production, mining 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