LONDON, ON, Nov. 3 /CNW/ -- Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX-FT) ("Fortune Minerals" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to purchase lands near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on which the Company proposes to construct its Southern Hydrometallurgical Facility ("SHMF" or "refinery") for the NICO gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper project. NICO is a planned vertically integrated project to mine and concentrate ores from the Company's deposit in the Northwest Territories. Bulk concentrates will be transported by truck and rail to the Saskatoon area for processing to high-value metal products, including gold doré, cobalt, copper and bismuth cathodes, and a nickel precipitate by-product. Earlier this year, Fortune Minerals announced that it was evaluating a number of sites in southern Canada to construct this facility (see Fortune Minerals News release, dated July 28, 2009). The relocation of the metal refining part of the project from the mine site to the Saskatoon area is being done to reduce capital and operating costs for the project, mitigate exposure to increasing energy costs, accelerate the construction schedule, reduce environmental impacts at the mine site, and speed the permitting process already in progress. Fortune Minerals believes that the selection of this site is an important step forward in its planned development of the NICO project and reduces project risk.

The purchase of lands in the Saskatoon area is subject to certain conditions, including completion of satisfactory due-diligence of the site and appropriate rezoning. Enterprise Saskatchewan and the Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority have been working with Fortune Minerals personnel over the last several months to identify a Saskatchewan location for this state of the art metallurgical processing plant in the province. Enterprise Saskatchewan Minister Ken Cheveldayoff said, "We are very pleased that Fortune Minerals has chosen Saskatchewan over other potential locations for this new and exciting project that means jobs and investment in the Saskatoon area."

The proposed Saskatoon refinery site includes access to the main line of the Canadian National Railway, which can accommodate a spur for delivery of concentrates from the mine, reagents and other supplies, and ship metal products to industrial centres in North America or points of export. The property is in close proximity to the Trans-Canada Highway and other services including power, natural gas, and water supply. Saskatoon is the fastest growing city in Canada and the commercial centre for the province of Saskatchewan.