FORTUNE MINERALS ANNOUNCES MAJOR PERMITTING MILESTONE
FOR THE NICO PROJECT IN THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Developers Assessment
Report filed with Mackenzie Valley Review Board
London,
ON - May 24, 2011 - Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX-FT) (�Fortune Minerals�
or the �Company�) is
pleased to announce that it has submitted its Developers Assessment
Report (�DAR�) for the Environmental Assessment (�EA�) for its NICO
gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper project in the Northwest Territories
(�NT�). The DAR was filed last week with the Mackenzie Valley
Review Board (�MVRB�) and represents a significant milestone in the
permitting process for the Company�s proposed mine, mill and related
facilities. The DAR culminates many years of comprehensive
environmental, socio-economic and engineering work that has determined
that the NICO project is economically viable and that impacts to the
local biophysical environment will be minimal.
�We are very
proud of the development, operation and closure plan prepared for the DAR
by our in-house team of professionals together with experts retained from
outside engineering and environmental consultants�, said Fortune Minerals
President, Robin Goad. �NICO is a unique project that will provide
long-term benefits to the Tlicho people and
other nearby residents, and contribute significantly to the economy of
the NT�.
The NICO project is located 160 km northwest of the City of Yellowknife
and 50 km north of the Tlicho community of Whati. The 31 million tonne
deposit will be developed using a combination of open pit and underground
mining methods with ores processed at the rate of 4,650 tonnes per day in a concentrator at the site over an
18-year mine life. Other facilities that are planned at the site
include a camp to accommodate employees working on a rotation basis,
ancillary buildings and a 27 km all-season access road that will join the
site to the proposed Tlicho Road connecting
nearby communities with the highway to Yellowknife. The mill will
produce approximately 180 tonnes of bulk
concentrate per day for shipment south to the Company�s proposed
hydrometallurgical refinery near Saskatoon and further processing to high
value metal products. An EA is also underway in Saskatchewan to
permit the refinery. Fortune Minerals plans to be a significant,
reliable North American-based supplier of 99.8% cobalt cathode, 99.5%
bismuth cathode and 99.99% bismuth ingot, gold dor�,
and by-product production of copper cathode and nickel precipitate.
Fortune
Minerals has been collecting baseline environmental data on water
quality, fish and wildlife populations, hydrology, hydrogeology,
geochemistry, vegetation, soils and terrain, heritage resources, air
quality, noise, socio-economics and traditional knowledge in the region
of the NICO project since 1998. The Company has also had a long
history of engagement with the Tlicho and other
First Nations as well as government agencies. Collectively this
information, together with engineering data, was used to prepare Land Use
Permit and Water License applications that were submitted to the MVRB in
November 2008. The project was referred to EA on March 2,
2009.
The DAR
represents more than two years of effort by Fortune Minerals and it�s
consultants in delivering a comprehensive 3000 page document that will
meet the needs of all stakeholders in the EA process. Scoping
sessions were held in nearby communities to receive comments and concerns
brought forward by the Tlicho people, other NT
residents, and government regulators. Three primary areas of focus
were identified for the DAR with respect to potential impacts to water
quality, caribou and closure.
Since filing
its applications, Fortune Minerals has worked diligently to refine the
project design in order to minimize or eliminate environmental impacts
during construction, operation and closure of the mine. Wherever
possible, concerns of the Tlicho people
documented in community engagement sessions were incorporated into the
project design. Key improvements to the project since the 2008
design presented in the applications include:
- Elimination
of the mine rock management area in favour
of a co-disposal facility (�CDF�) where mine rock and tailings will
be stored together. This significantly reduces the footprint
of the project and its visual impacts, and also allows for more
efficient management of water to mitigate water quality impacts;
- The
water management system has been optimized in terms of internal
recycling within the plant, thickening of the tailings, and
incorporating a high level of reclaim water from the CDF back to the
concentrator. This new design has resulted in water withdrawal
that is only about one tenth the volume initially predicted in the
Class A Water License Application, and in significantly reduced
effluent discharge volumes;
- The
process plant at the mine site will now produce a concentrate for
shipment to the proposed hydrometallurgical refinery near
Saskatoon. The metal refining part of the project was
relocated from the mine site to Saskatoon to reduce capital and
operating costs for the project, mitigate exposure to increasing
energy costs, accelerate the construction schedule, and reduce
environmental impacts. This relocation will result in a
considerable reduction in the quantity of process chemicals that
would otherwise have been shipped to and used at the mine site and
was supported by the Tlicho Government.
Fortune
Minerals is confident that changes to the biophysical environment from
the NICO development will not result in significant adverse residual
impacts to valued components of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, such
as water quality, fish and fish habitat, traditional use plants, caribou,
and other wildlife. Consequently, the NICO project is not predicted
to have significant adverse impacts on the traditional and non-traditional
use of these ecological components.
The DAR has
concluded that NICO will have significant positive impacts on the
economics of the NT and surrounding Tlicho
communities, including direct and indirect employment, contracting
opportunities for local businesses, and tax revenue. NICO will
provide local and regional direct employment during construction of 231
jobs, up to 233 full-time jobs during early years of operations when the
underground and open pit parts of the mine are both in operation, and 127
jobs during open pit operations. In-direct jobs are expected double these
amounts.
During its 18-year operating mine life, the NICO project will contribute
approximately $128 million per year to the Gross Domestic Product (�GDP�)
of the NT and will contribute $24 million per year in revenues to the
federal and territorial governments. Total GDP for the entire
operational phase of the project will amount to approximately $2.3
billion. Fortune Minerals also expects to enter into a
Participation Agreement with the Tlicho
Government.
Rick Schryer, Director of Regulatory and Environmental
Affairs for Fortune, stated that �Fortune is confident it has met the
requirements of the Terms of Reference (�TOR�) and we look forward to
working with the Tlicho people, other stakeholders,
regulatory agencies and the MVRB during the DAR review process to move
this project to the final phase of mine permitting.� Once the MVRB
has completed its conformity check and confirms the DAR meets the
requirements of the TOR, Fortune will proceed through the DAR review
process according to the definitive steps and timelines established in
the DAR work plan issued by MVRB. According to the work plan, the
remainder of the environmental assessment process includes review of the
DAR by interested parties, information requests to Fortune Minerals,
technical sessions, a pre-hearing conference and a public hearing.
The information gathered during this process will be used by MVRB to
prepare its report on the project and make a recommendation to the
Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs. Fortune would then go back
to the Wek�eezhii Land and Water Board to
obtain the necessary Water License and Land Use permits to construct and
operate the mine.
The DAR and
its supporting documentation are available on the MVRB public registry
web site (http://www.reviewboard.ca/registry/project.php?project_id=72).
About
Fortune Minerals:
Fortune
Minerals Limited is
a diversified resource company with several mineral deposits and a number
of exploration projects, all located in Canada. The Company is
focused on the development of its NICO gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper deposit
in the Northwest Territories and its metals processing plant in Saskatchewan.
Fortune Minerals owns the buildings and equipment from the Golden Giant
Mine at Hemlo, Ontario, which have been
dismantled, moved, and stored for relocation to NICO. Fortune
Minerals also owns the Mount Klappan anthracite
metallurgical coal deposits in British Columbia and has engaged Deloitte
& Touche Corporate Finance Canada to assist
in attracting a strategic partner to develop this project. In
addition, the Company owns the Sue-Dianne copper-silver deposit and other
exploration projects in the Northwest Territories. Fortune Minerals
is focused on outstanding performance and growth of shareholder value
through assembly and development of high quality mineral resource
projects.
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Forward-looking information
This press release contains
forward-looking information. This forward-looking information includes
statements with respect to, among other things, the proposed
development of the NICO project and the proposed purchase and
development of the site for the Saskatchewan Metals Processing Plant
(�SMPP�). Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and
estimates of management at the date the information is given, and 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
inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral
properties, the inherent volatility of metal prices, the risk that the
Company may not be able to arrange the necessary financing to construct
and operate the NICO mine and the SMPP, uncertainties with respect to
the receipt or timing of required permits for the development of the
NICO project and the SMPP, the possibility of delays in the
commencement of production from the NICO project and construction of
the SMPP and other factors. 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.
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