Critical Enabler for NICO Mine Operations
Advancing to RFP Stage
Issued Capital: 302,085,257
LONDON, ON, Sept. 19, 2017 /CNW/ - Fortune Minerals
Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQX: FTMDF) ("Fortune" or
the "Company") (www.fortuneminerals.com) reports that
the Government of the Northwest
Territories ("GNWT") has recently announced
completion of another milestone toward construction of the Tlicho
All-Season Road ("TASR") to the community of Whati. GNWT
Minister of Finance, Robert C.
McLeod, stated in March 2017
that, "Construction of the Tlicho All-Season Road is a priority of
the 18th Legislative Assembly. The project is a critical piece of
infrastructure that will result in significant benefits for the
Tlicho region and facilitate growth for the NWT economy." Fortune
has already received environmental assessment ("EA")
approval to construct a spur road from Whati to its proposed NICO
mine site as part of its proposed development. All-season road
access is required for mine operations to allow metal concentrates
to be transported south for processing.
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The GNWT announced that it has completed the Request for
Qualification phase of the proposed Private-Public-Partnership
("P3") to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the
TASR and has selected three consortiums of large Canadian and
International firms to advance to the Request for Proposal
("RFP") stage, subject to progress of the EA. Earlier this
year, the Canadian, GNWT and Tlicho governments announced
conditional approval of federal funding for 25 per cent of the
construction costs for the TASR through the P3 Canada Fund
(See Fortune's January 12, 2017 News Release). The winning
consortium will fund the remaining 75 per cent of the cost of the
road and will be repaid with interest over the life of the contract
by the GNWT.
Fortune's NICO Cobalt-Gold-Bismuth-Copper development consists
of a planned mine, mill and concentrator in the Northwest Territories ("NWT") and
refinery in Saskatchewan where it
will process concentrates to value-added products. When NICO is
developed, Fortune will be an important new producer of battery
grade cobalt sulphate to the rapidly expanding lithium-ion
rechargeable battery industry and support the use in portable
electronic devices, transformative automotive electrification, and
stationary storage cells enabling renewable energy for base load
and off-peak charging from the grid. Fortune will also produce
environmentally friendly bismuth metals and oxide needed in a
growing green economy, as well as gold and minor amounts of copper.
As a Canadian vertically integrated producer, Fortune will be able
to demonstrate custody control of metals from ores through to the
production of value added products. This will help mitigate the
supply chain concerns that apply to the dominant supply of cobalt
and bismuth from the Congo and
China.
The NICO development project has already received EA approvals
in the NWT and Saskatchewan. A
2014 Feasibility Study demonstrated attractive rates of return for
the development and is currently being updated by Hatch Ltd. and
Micon International Limited ("Micon") in order to revise
capital and operating costs and assess the economics based on
current commodity price and exchange rate assumptions. Fortune has
engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance Inc.
("PwC") to arrange the project financing through a
combination of strategic partnerships, debt and equity.
The disclosure of scientific and technical information
contained in this news 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, 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 mining
company focused on developing the vertically integrated NICO
cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project in the NWT 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
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 (including the Company's plans to
secure project financing to start construction), the updated
feasibility study for the NICO Project, anticipated growth in the
lithium-ion rechargeable battery industry and plans for the
construction of the TASR for operations at the NICO Project.
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, growth in the
lithium-ion rechargeable battery industry and the proposed
construction of the TASR, 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 the
volumes of metals to be produced at 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 finance and develop NICO on
favourable terms or at all, the updated feasibility study may take
longer than anticipated and may not demonstrate improved economics
for the NICO Project to the extent anticipated, the TASR may not be
built within the anticipated time frame, 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
