Building the team for NICO Project
construction and operations
Issued Capital: 268,149,007
LONDON, ON, Sept. 14, 2016 /CNW/ - Fortune Minerals
Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQX: FTMDF) ("Fortune" or
the "Company") (www.fortuneminerals.com) is pleased to
announce that Mr. Glen Koropchuk has
joined the Board of Directors, providing additional strength to the
Company in mine operations and project development. A mining
engineer with nearly 30 years of executive management, mine
operations, project management and corporate social investment
work, Glen Koropchuk has had
prodigious global experience within Anglo American Plc ("Anglo")
and its subsidiaries. Most recently, Mr. Koropchuk was Chief
Operating Officer ("COO") of De Beers Canada Inc., responsible for
delivering safe, operational excellence from the Snap Lake and
Victor diamond mines in Canada's
north. Notably, he also led the permitting, Aboriginal engagement,
and project management for the $1
billion Gahcho Kue diamond mine in the Northwest Territories ("NT") that was recently
commissioned on time, reflecting a skill set that is particularly
relevant to Fortune as it advances the vertically-integrated NICO
Gold-Cobalt-Bismuth-Copper Project toward construction.
Like our news? Click-to-Tweet.
Mahendra Naik, Chairman of
Fortune commented, "We are privileged to have Glen Koropchuk join our Board and augment the
Company's operational capacity with his extensive mine development
experience at this critical period as we prepare the NICO Project
for construction and commercial production."
Dave Ramsay, a director of
Fortune and former Northwest
Territories Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment
said, "Glen has built strong relationships in the north with his
management of the De Beers Canadian mining portfolio. His addition
to our board sends a strong message of our commitment to developing
NICO for the benefit of the north and its stakeholders."
Glen Koropchuk graduated from the
University of Alberta with Bachelor's
and Master's degrees in Mining Engineering and a focus on mineral
processing. He joined Anglo in 1989 where he gained engineering and
mine supervisory experience at four of its coal mines in
South Africa. This was followed by
two years managing corporate social investment projects throughout
southern Africa as part of Anglo's
and De Beers' world leading socio-economic development portfolio.
Mr. Koropchuk added significant project development and underground
and open pit mine operations experience from 13 years spent at
AngloGold working at the 21st Century mine in
South Africa, the Ampari project
in Brazil, the Sadiola Hill and
Morila mines in Mali, and his
subsequent secondment to Trans-Siberian Gold in Russia as COO. In 2007, Mr. Koropchuk was
transferred back to Anglo Coal in London as Head of Operational Performance for
Canada and South America where he was responsible for
Anglo's joint ventures in British
Columbia, Venezuela and
Columbia before being appointed Chief Executive Officer of Peace
River Coal and General Manager of Anglo Coal Canada. Glen
transferred to De Beers Canada Ltd. in 2011 to become COO, a
position he held until his retirement earlier this year.
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 in 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 NT 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. 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.
Approximately 180 wet tonnes of bulk concentrate is 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.
Cobalt is a critical metal needed to manufacture the cathodes of
lithium-ion batteries used in portable electronic devices, electric
vehicles and stationary storage cells. Demand for cobalt is
increasing significantly with the electrification of the automotive
industry and the use of stationary storage cells to store
electricity from intermittent wind and solar generation and
off-peak charging from the electrical grid. 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.
The future supply of cobalt is at risk due to geographic
concentration of mine supply in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a
politically unstable country where there has also been depletion of
near-surface oxide deposits. The closure of several mines from
which cobalt is produced as a by-product due to low copper and
nickel prices is also contributing to the supply deficit forecasted
by analysts beginning in 2016. NICO is planned to be an important
new Canadian producer with supply chain transparency and
uninterrupted custody from ore right through to the production of
battery chemicals. The more than 1.11 million ounces of gold in the
NICO mineral reserves is also a highly liquid co-product whose
price is commonly countercyclical to the other contained metals. In
addition, NICO contains approximately 12% of global bismuth
reserves, a metal that also has supply chain concerns due to the
dominance of mine and refinery 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 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 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 were
recently purchased by a provincial Crown corporation.
Follow Fortune Minerals:
Click here to subscribe to Fortune's email list.
Click here to follow Fortune on LinkedIn.
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 (including the Company's plans to
secure off-take agreements and project financing to start
construction), estimated future production and future demand for
and supply of cobalt. 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 and other
by-product metals, anticipated costs and factors affecting the
future demand for and supply of cobalt). 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 future supply of cobalt may not be as limited as
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