LONDON, ON, Feb. 17, 2011 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX News Network) --
FortuneMinerals Limited (TSX-FT) ("Fortune Minerals" or the "Company") ispleased to announce that it has completed two public informationsessions for the environmental assessment and permitting for theCompany's proposed 
Metals Processing Plant ("SMPP") near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan("SK"). The SMPP is a proposed hydrometallurgical process plant thatwill treat concentrates produced at Fortune's 100% owned NICO projectin the Northwest Territories ("NWT") and produce high value metalproducts, including gold doré, cobalt and copper cathodes, and bismuthcathodes or ingots. Fortune Minerals is very pleased with theconsiderable interest shown in the project from the local communitiesand municipal and provincial governments and with the generallypositive response to the Company's plans for its SMPP.
Theinformation sessions were held in the communities of Dalmeny andLangham on February 7(th) and 8(th), respectively, and followed theissuance of draft Project Specific Guidelines ("PSG's") by theEnvironmental Assessment Branch of Saskatchewan's Ministry ofEnvironment ("SE") on January 21(st), 2011. These draft PSG's are openfor public comment and can be viewed at:https://www.environment.gov.sk.ca/Default.aspx?DN=da9c2bea-d887-4c52-b111-d6236ab6f0d4until February 23(rd), 2011. Once finalized, the PSG's will outline therequirements of the provincial environmental assessment process andidentify key issues that will need to be addressed in the EnvironmentalImpact Statement ("EIS"). Fortune plans to submit the EIS to SE nextmonth. The purpose of these information sessions is to update thegeneral public on the Company's plans for the SMPP and to address anyconcerns or questions prior to the submission of the EIS.
Approximately75 people attended the meeting in Dalmeny, and there was an evenlarger turn-out of approximately 115 people in Langham. Both sessionswere also attended by representatives of the Regional Municipality ofCorman Park, the mayors and members of town council of bothcommunities, local businesses and media, as well as members of theSaskatoon Regional Economic Authority and Enterprise Saskatchewan. Four senior staff of FortuneMinerals and representatives of MDH Engineered Solutions Inc., theCompany's environmental consultant for this project, were present toprovide information on the project and answer questions. The corporatepresentations covered subjects including the design and operationparameters of the plant, plans for residue storage, baselineenvironmental programs, and potential impacts and mitigation plans tominimize or eliminate impacts at the site and surrounding region.Fortune Minerals staff were able to address questions concerning theproposed water source, process residue storage, air quality issues,noise, employment opportunities and overall financial benefits to thelocal economy.
Fortune Minerals' SMPP is proposed to beconstructed on lands in the Regional Municipality of Corman Park,approximately 26 km northwest of Saskatoon and straddling the mainnorthern line of the Canadian National Railway. The plant will receiveapproximately 180 tonnes of bulk concentrate per day from the NICOproject in the NWT. These concentrates will be re-ground and separatedby flotation into cobalt-copper and bismuth concentrates that bothcontain gold. Cobalt and copper are recovered by pressure acid leach,followed by neutralization and electro-winning to precipitate themetals as high quality cathodes. The bismuth is recovered byatmospheric acid leach followed by electro-winning and smelting toproduce cathodes and/or ingots. Residues produced from both streamswill be leached with cyanide to recover the gold. Capital for the SMPP are estimated to be in excess of $200 million. There willbe 85 permanent employees working at the plant, in the fields ofmetallurgical and chemical engineering, process technologies,tradespersons, and support staff. An even larger work force will beemployed for construction and indirect jobs should be 2-3 times thenumber of direct jobs in order to support the operation. FortuneMinerals is pleased to report that an engineered fly-by of the SMPP anda copy of the presentation given in the communities are now availablefor viewing on the Home Page of the Company's internet website atwww.fortuneminerals.com.
Fortune Minerals plans to maintain opencommunication with residents and elected officials from the communitiesand surrounding region throughout the environmental assessment processand also during operations. Once submitted, the EIS will be reviewedby the Saskatchewan Environmental Assessment Review Panel which maydevelop a deficiency statement if required. Fortune Minerals wouldthen address any deficiencies which would allow SE to issue itsTechnical Review Comments ("TRC's"). The EIS and TRC's would then beopen for public review, following which, SE would submit theirrecommendations on the project along with any comments from the public,the EIS and the TRC's to the Minister for a decision on the project.
AboutFortune Minerals: Fortune Minerals is a diversified resource companywith several mineral deposits and a number of exploration projects, alllocated in Canada. The Company is focused on the development of itsNICO gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper deposit in the Northwest Territoriesand its metals processing plant in Saskatchewan. Fortune Minerals ownsthe buildings and equipment from the Golden Giant Mine at Hemlo,Ontario, which have been dismantled for relocation to NICO. FortuneMinerals also owns the Mount Klappan anthracite coal deposits inBritish Columbia, the Sue-Dianne copper-silver deposit and otherexploration projects in the Northwest Territories. Fortune Minerals isfocused on outstanding performance and growth of shareholder valuethrough assembly and development of high quality mineral resourceprojects.
This press release contains forward-lookinginformation. This forward-looking information includes statements withrespect to, among other things, proposed development of the NICOproject, and the proposed development of the SMPP. Forward-lookinginformation is based on the opinions and estimates of management at thedate the information is given, and is subject to a variety of risksand uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events orresults to differ materially from those projected in theforward-looking information. These factors include the inherent risksinvolved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, theinherent volatility of metal prices, the risk that the Company may notbe able to arrange the necessary financing to construct and operate theNICO mine and the SMPP, uncertainties with respect to the receipt ortiming of required permits for the development of the NICO project andthe SMPP, the possibility of delays in the commencement of productionfrom the NICO project and construction of the SMPP, the risk that thecapital costs of the SMPP may be more than anticipated and otherfactors. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance onforward-looking information because it is possible that predictions,forecasts, projections and other forms of forward-looking informationwill not be achieved by the Company. The forward-looking informationcontained herein is made as of the date hereof and the Company assumesno responsibility to update or revise it to reflect new events orcircumstances, except as required by law.
To view this newsrelease in HTML formatting, please use the following URL:https://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2011/17/c3816.html
SOURCE: Fortune Minerals Limited
Copyright (C) 2011 CNW Group. All rights reserved.