Issued Capital: 111,030,661
LONDON, ON, Nov. 3, 2011 /CNW/ - Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX-FT) ("Fortune" or the "Company") announced today that it has engaged
Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance Canada Inc. ("Deloitte") to act as
Fortune's financial advisor in pursuing strategic alternatives for the
advancement of both the Company's flagship projects, the Mount Klappan
Metallurgical Coal project in northwest British Columbia ("BC") and the
NICO Gold-Cobalt-Bismuth-Copper project in the Northwest Territories
("NT"), Canada. Deloitte will assist Fortune in identifying potential
financing partners and evaluating potential transactions that would
provide funding for the development, construction and successful
commercial production of both assets.
Fortune President Robin Goad stated "we are very pleased to be working
with Deloitte again on this important corporate finance advisory
mandate. Deloitte's work as our financial advisor in securing POSCO as
a partner for the Mount Klappan Project demonstrated they have a
leading global M&A capability focused on the mining sector. Their
strong presence in critical Asian markets is especially important as
Fortune looks to further advance its projects."
Jeremy South, Deloitte's Global Mining M&A Leader commented "Our team of
Mining M&A professionals in Canada and Asia will work closely with
Fortune's management team to deliver its goal of securing the funding
required to advance the NICO and Mount Klappan projects to production.
We look forward to leveraging our global reach and expertise to assist
Fortune."
Mount Klappan Metallurgical Coal Project
Mount Klappan is one of the world's premier metallurgical coal deposits,
consisting of 15,866 hectares of coal exploration licenses in northwest
BC and is located 330 km northeast of the port of Prince Rupert. The
licenses straddle the BC Railway right-of-way and its partially
constructed roadbed, 150 km north of the current terminus of track at
Minaret where CN is operating under a long-term lease. Mount Klappan is
in the environmental assessment process for the upgrade and expansion
of the railway infrastructure and for the development of an open pit
mine and wash plant that is expected to produce an initial 3 million
tonnes per annum of premium ultra-low volatile pulverized coal
injection ("PCI") products for the overseas steel industry. Fortune
(80%) and POSCO Canada Ltd. ("POSCAN") (20%) are the current joint
venture partners of the project (See Fortune News Release, dated July
13, 2011). POSCAN is the Canadian subsidiary of South Korea's POSCO,
one of the largest steel producers in the world, and has investments in
other North American coal companies and mineral development projects.
NICO Cobalt-Gold-Bismuth Project
The NICO Project is located 160 km northwest of the City of Yellowknife,
NT 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 projected to be processed at the
rate of 4,650 tonnes per day in a mill 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 is expected to produce approximately 180 tonnes
of bulk concentrate per day for shipment south to the Company's
proposed hydrometallurgical refinery near Saskatoon and further
processing. Fortune plans to be a significant, reliable North
American-based supplier of high purity cobalt cathode, bismuth ingot,
gold doré, and by-product copper cathode and nickel precipitates.
About Deloitte:
Deloitte's Global Mining Advisory Group offers sophisticated investment
banking advice to mining companies participating in transactions
globally. With over 3,000 M&A Advisory professionals, Deloitte has one
of the largest M&A practices in the world. It has an extensive
presence in Asia Pacific - with over 900 M&A professionals based in
this region. Deloitte is also a leading global provider of
professional services to the mining sector with extensive experience
advising on middle market transactions, and a number of active
engagements in the base metals, coal and steel segments. The core
service team working with Fortune will be based in Deloitte's Global
Mining Centers of Excellence in Vancouver, Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo,
Mumbai and Melbourne; also drawing on experienced professionals from
other Deloitte Mining Centres in Toronto, Singapore, Sydney, Perth,
Moscow, Johannesburg, and Sao Paulo.
About Fortune Minerals Limited:
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 Mount Klappan anthracite
metallurgical coal deposits in BC and the NICO
gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper deposit in the NT. As part of the
development of the NICO deposit, Fortune is developing a
hydrometallurgical plant in Saskatchewan to process NICO concentrates
to high value metal products. The company has also acquired the
buildings and equipment from the Golden Giant Mine at Hemlo, Ontario,
which have been dismantled, moved, and stored for relocation to NICO.
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 press release contains forward-looking information. This
forward-looking information includes statements with respect to, among
other things, the proposed development of the Mount Klappan and NICO
projects, anticipated production therefrom and the proposed development
of 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
Mount Klappan and NICO mines and the SMPP, uncertainties with respect
to the receipt or timing of required permits for the development of the
Mount Klappan and NICO projects and the SMPP, the possibility of delays
in the commencement of production from the Mount Klappan and NICO
projects 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.