Issued Capital: 94,779,407
TORONTO, Feb. 2 /CNW/ - Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX-FT) ("Fortune Minerals" or "the Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Jared Orynik, P.Eng, as Senior Metallurgist for the Company's proposed Saskatchewan Metals Processing Plant ("SMPP") to be built near Langham, 30 km west of Saskatoon. Fortune Minerals' SMPP will use modern hydrometallurgical process technologies to treat bulk concentrates from the Company's wholly-owned NICO mine in the Northwest Territories to produce high value metal products, including gold, as well as cobalt, bismuth and copper cathodes. The NICO mine and concentrator is currently undergoing the second half of an Environmental Impact Assessment in the Northwest Territories, and the SMPP is undergoing a separate concurrent permitting process in Saskatchewan.
Jared Orynik is a metallurgical and materials engineer, who brings additional hydrometallurgical expertise to Fortune Minerals to augment the Company's existing team of in-house process and mining engineers and expert consultants. Jared was recently employed as a Senior Production Engineer at Teck Resources' metallurgical complex at Trail, B.C., where he worked in metal leaching and electro-winning operations similar to the process technologies that will be employed at Fortune Minerals' SMPP. Jared also has key plant commissioning experience as part of Teck's startup of the Pogo Gold Mine in Alaska. Originally from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Jared is a graduate of Materials Engineering at the University of Alberta. He is pleased to be back in his home province as a member of the Fortune Minerals management group based in Saskatoon as the Company advances its vertically integrated NICO gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper development toward commercial production.
Additionally, Fortune Minerals announces that it has engaged MDH Engineered Solutions Corp. ("MDH") to complete the geotechnical, hydrogeological, and environmental programs required for the permitting, construction and operation of the Company's SMPP following a competitive selection process. MDH will conduct soil investigations and geotechnical design for the plant foundations and the construction of earthworks for the storage ponds and residue storage facilities for the SMPP. Hydrogeological studies are being conducted for groundwater characterization and flow modeling for plant water supply, and for the impact assessment for permitting. Baseline environmental surveys are also being conducted for heritage resources, climate, soil conditions, vegetation, wildlife and hydrology to support permitting. Based in Saskatoon, MDH has a 30-year history of providing geotechnical, hydrogeological, and environmental consulting services for large industrial clients in the mining and petrochemical industries in western Canada.
About Fortune Minerals:
Fortune Minerals is a diversified natural resource company with several mineral deposits and a number of exploration projects, all located in Canada. They include the Mount Klappan anthracite coal deposits in British Columbia, and the NICO gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper deposit, the Sue-Dianne copper-silver deposit and other base and precious metals exploration projects in the Northwest Territories. Fortune Minerals owns the buildings and equipment from the Golden Giant Mine at Hemlo, Ontario, which have been dismantled for relocation to NICO. Fortune Minerals is focused on outstanding performance and growth of shareholder value through assembly and development of high quality mineral resource projects.
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 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.