/NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE
SERVICES/
Second tranche expected to close on August 20, 2013
Issued Capital: 135,901,976
LONDON, ON, July 25, 2013 /CNW/ - Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQX: FTMDF) ("Fortune" or the "Company") (www.fortuneminerals.com) is pleased to report that it has closed the first tranche of the
private placement related to the previously announced strategic
investment by Procon Resources Inc., a subsidiary of Procon Holdings
(Alberta) Inc., collectively ("Procon"). A total of 14,625,000 new
common shares were issued at a price of $0.40 per common share for
proceeds of $5,850,000. The second tranche of the private placement is
now expected to close on August 20, 2013. For more information
regarding the private placement, please see the news release of the
Company dated June 27, 2013.
Fortune and Procon are working together to advance the NICO
Gold-Cobalt-Bismuth-Copper Project ("NICO" or the "Project") in the
Northwest Territories ("NT"), Canada towards the objective of
commencing construction activities in 2014, including completing
project financing arrangements, detailed engineering, and a project
execution plan. Fortune will use the proceeds of the private placement
financing to advance the Project and for working capital.
Pursuant to the private placement agreement with Procon, Mr. Ed
Yurkowski has joined the board of directors of Fortune. Mr. Yurkowski
is the Chief Executive Officer of Procon, which in addition to the
resource company is a full service mining contractor through Procon
Mining & Tunneling Inc. Mr. Yurkowski has been involved in the mining
and civil contracting industries since 1966, including ownership and
management of two large mining construction contracting companies. He
is a founder of Procon and remains a principal shareholder following
the purchase in 2012 of a majority interest in the corporation by China
CAMC Engineering Co. Ltd. Mr. Yurkowski guides the corporate governance
of Procon and directly oversees its business development functions and
the overall strategic direction and operation of the corporation. Mr.
Yurkowski received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in 1971
from the University of Saskatchewan and currently serves as a director
of a number of other TSX and TSXV listed companies, including Imperial
Metals Corporation, Chieftain Metals Corp., Golden Band Resources Inc.,
Rainy Mountain Royalty Corp. and Columbia Yukon Explorations Inc.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these
securities, in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or
sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the
securities laws of such jurisdiction. The securities have not been and
will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933,
as amended, or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold
within the united Sates unless an exemption from such registration is
available.
About NICO
NICO is positioned to become a reliable Canadian-based producer of gold,
cobalt and bismuth. Mining will be conducted primarily by open pit
methods with underground ores also contributing mill feed during the
first two years from the existing underground workings that were
established from previous test mining. The ores will be processed in a
concentrator at the site, using simple flotation to produce a bulk
concentrate for shipment to a refinery and additional processing to
high value metal products. The deposit contains Proven and Probable
Mineral Reserves totalling 33 million tonnes containing 1,085,000
ounces of gold, 82 million pounds of cobalt, 102 million pounds of
bismuth (representing 15% of global bismuth reserves), and 27 million
pounds of copper (see Fortune News Releases dated July 2, 2012 and July
4, 2012). At the planned mill throughput rate of 4,650 tonnes of ore
per day, the mineral reserves will sustain operations for 19.8 years.
More than $110 million of work has already been invested in the NICO
project including completion of Front-End Engineering and Design and
feasibility studies, underground test mining, and pilot plant tests to
verify the process methods. NICO is located 50 km north of the Tlicho
community of Whati and 160 km northwest of the City of Yellowknife
The disclosure of scientific and technical information contained in this
press release has been approved by Robin Goad, M.Sc., P. Geo.,
President and CEO of the Company, who is a "qualified person" under
National Instrument 43-101.
About Procon
Procon is a full service mining contractor providing a comprehensive
range of expertise to meet the growing needs of the mining and civil
industries. It provides services in underground and open pit mining,
mill construction and rehabilitation, heavy equipment rental and
maintenance, and industrial services for infrastructure for the mining,
forestry, and construction industries. The corporation has one of the
largest owned fleets of mining equipment and has ranked as one of the
leading mining contractors in North America and one of the top thirty
general contractors in Canada. Well respected in the mining industry,
Procon also has an impressive performance record in both safety and
operations.
Procon is majority owned by CAMCE. CAMCE's core business is
international EPC services, contracting, trading, and domestic and
overseas project investment. With extensive experience in international
project management, CAMCE has completed large turnkey projects in Asia,
Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean in the fields of
transportation, municipal engineering, irrigation and water works,
power development, construction materials, food processing, textiles,
petrochemicals, agricultural and construction equipment and
telecommunications.
About Fortune Minerals:
Fortune 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 the Arctos Anthracite Project
in British Columbia and the vertically integrated NICO
gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper project that is comprised of a mine and mill
in the NT that will produce a bulk concentrate for shipment to a
refinery for processing to high value metal products. In addition, the
Company owns the Sue-Dianne copper-silver-gold deposit and other
exploration projects in the NT. Fortune is focused on outstanding
performance and growth of shareholder value through assembly and
development of high quality mineral resource projects.
This news release contains forward-looking information. This
forward-looking information includes statements with respect to, among
other things, the financing from Procon referred to herein (the
"Financing), the expected timing of the closing of the second tranche
of the Financing, proposed production of gold and specialty metals, and
the proposed development of the NICO project. 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 complete the Financing or arrange the necessary additional
financing to construct and operate the NICO mine, uncertainties with
respect to the receipt or timing of required permits for the
development of the NICO project, the possibility of delays in the
commencement of production from the NICO project 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.
SOURCE: Fortune Minerals Limited
