Issued Capital: 64,890,857
LONDON, ON, July 28 /CNW/ - Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX-FT) ("Fortune
Minerals" or the "Company") is pleased to announce its decision to locate the
hydrometallurgical part of the process plant to treat concentrates produced
from its NICO Gold-Cobalt-Bismuth-Copper development in the Northwest
Territories (NWT) to a site in southern Canada. This change in the NICO
project will have a material positive impact on both capital and operating
costs for the development. It will also help mitigate future exposure to
increasing energy costs, accelerate the construction schedule, reduce
environmental impacts, and help speed the permitting process already in
progress.
The NICO mine is located 160 km northwest of the City of Yellowknife, 22
km west of the Snare hydro complex and 50 km northeast of the community of
Whati, NWT. NICO is a proposed vertically integrated project to mine and
process ores to high value metal products, including gold dore, cobalt and
bismuth cathodes (metal) and a minor amount of copper and nickel by-products
using proven hydrometallurgical process methods that have been confirmed in
two pilot plant tests and are used at existing refineries.
The Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board, that is
conducting the environmental assessment for the NICO development, and
representatives of the federal, NWT and Tlicho (aboriginal) governments have
been notified of Fortune Minerals' decision. The mine, mill and flotation
concentrator will be constructed in the NWT as originally planned. Conversely,
the downstream hydrometallurgical part of the process plant, comprised of
pressure and acid leaching followed by electro-winning to high value metal
products, and the gold leach circuit, will now be constructed at a site in
southern Canada. Numerous locations have been investigated to construct this
"Southern Hydrometallurgical Facility" (SHMF) over the past 6 months.
