Update For NICO Mine and Saskatchewan Metals Processing Plant
LONDON, ON - Fortune Minerals Limited reported that it has successfully demonstrated the production of 99.99% bismuth ingot (metal) from its 100% owned NICO Gold-Cobalt-Bismuth-Copper Project in the Northwest Territories and Saskatchewan. High purity bismuth ingot with 99.99% purity is the standard product that is typically quoted for sale and traded on global metal markets. The ability to produce bismuth cathode and ingot is a significant improvement to the NICO project since completion of the definitive feasibility study for the project by Micon International Limited in 2007, and the 2008 economic update.
Fortune previously demonstrated the production of a minimum 99% bismuth cathode powder product. High purity metal ingots can now be poured after smelting this powder in an induction furnace with flux to remove other metal impurities. The metallurgical test work for the NICO project, including two pilot plant tests, has been conducted at SGS Lakefield Research Limited under the supervision of Alex Mezei, P.Eng. in compliance with NI 41-101. As a result of this and other project improvements, NICO will have average annual production of approximately 34,000 ounces of gold as dorÄ, 3.4 million pounds of cobalt as 99.8% cathode, 3.65 million pounds of bismuth as 99% cathode or 99.99% ingot, and 770,000 pounds of copper as 99.995% cathode over the projected 18-year mine life. Fortune has a letter of intent to sell its bismuth production to MCP Group, a Belgium-based company with plants in Europe, North America and China and the world's largest producer of bismuth based products. Fortune is in discussions with other companies interested in purchasing the Company's cobalt production. NICO is a proposed vertically integrated project consisting of a mine, mill and concentrator in the southern part of the Northwest Territories, 160 km northwest of the City of Yellowknife, and a hydrometallurgical process plant that will be located near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The NICO deposit contains 31 million tonnes of mineral reserves containing 907,000 ounces of gold, 82 million pounds of cobalt, 109 million pounds of bismuth and 27 million pounds of copper (see Fortune News Release, dated January 14, 2010)(1). The deposit will be mined by a combination of open pit and underground mining methods. The mill will operate at a planned production rate of 4,650 tonnes of ore per day. Because of the very high concentration ratio of NICO ores, most of the valuable metal would be recovered in only 180 tonnes of bulk concentrate produced per day. This concentrate will be transported by truck and rail to the Company's proposed Saskatchewan Metals Processing Plant ("SMPP") near Saskatoon for refining to high value metal products. Fortune already owns the equipment from the Golden Giant Mine at Hemlo, Ontario, which will be relocated to the Northwest Territories and Saskatoon to reduce initial capital for the NICO project. The company's address is 140 Fullarton St., Suite 1902, London, ON N6A 5P2, (519) 858-8188, email: [email protected].