Positive momentum as project approaches the Public Hearing phase of
Environmental Assessment
Issued Capital: 117,076,976
TORONTO, April 10, 2012 /CNW/ - Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT) ("Fortune" or the "Company") (www.fortuneminerals.com) is pleased to report that it has completed an additional round of
successful public meetings and open houses in Yellowknife and the four
Tlicho communities surrounding the Company's NICO
gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper project in the Northwest Territories ("NT").
Joseph (Joe) Rabesca, former Grand Chief of the Tlicho Government, has
also joined Fortune as NICO Community Relations Coordinator. Fortune
is very pleased to be working more closely with Joe Rabesca and also
with the positive momentum it has received with the Tlicho people as
the NICO project advances to the Public Hearing phase of the
Environmental Assessment ("EA") to permit the proposed mine and mill.
Dr. Richard Schryer, Fortune's Director of Regulatory and Environmental
Affairs, commented that, "the opportunity to provide an open forum to
exchange information with the Tlicho people in their language and
communities was well received. The addition of Joe Rabesca to our team
also enhances our presence in the Tlicho community with a highly
respected leader to help communicate the Company's plans and receive
valuable feedback as we approach the end of the EA process and plan for
the development."
Public meetings were held in Behchoko, Whati, Gameti and Wekweeti and an
open house in Yellowknife over the week of March 26, 2012. These
sessions were part of the Company's ongoing engagement with the Tlicho
people to discuss the opportunities and impacts associated with the
proposed NICO mine and to gain a greater understanding of cultural
issues and traditional use of lands in the area. They follow successful
completion of the Cooperative Relationship Agreement entered into with
the Tlicho Government to provide the framework for future communication
and capacity for the Tlicho to complete the EA process (see News
Release, dated November 8, 2011). The informal format of the meetings
encouraged exchange of information with local residents on a number of
subjects including traditional knowledge, employment and contracting
opportunities, and the working environment at the mine. The meetings
were well attended by members of the communities, including elders,
representatives of the NT government, the Kwe Beh Working Group, Tlicho
Investment Corporation, and also high school students completing a
class project on opportunities in the mining sector and the benefits of
higher education.
Former Tlicho Grand Chief Joe Rabesca joined Fortune in April as NICO
Community Relations Coordinator. Joe served as Chief of Behchoko
intermittently between 1982 and 1992, and continuously from 1992 to
2000, and then as Grand Chief from 2000 to 2005, and again in 2009 and
2010. As Grand Chief, he led negotiations for the landmark agreement
with the governments of Canada and the NT establishing Tlicho
self-government and fee simple ownership over 39,000 square kilometres
of lands in the NT surrounding NICO. Joe, together with his team of
community chiefs and an elder's advisory group, were also responsible
for negotiating and completing Impact and Benefits Agreements with
BHP-Billiton, Rio Tinto, and De Beers for the three NT diamond mines.
These became leading precedents for similar agreements between mining
companies and First Nations in other parts of Canada. Joe led
negotiations for an agreement with the Government of NT that resulted
in the transfer of ownership of one of the dams at the Snare Hydro
complex to the Tlicho. As a founding member of the Tlicho Investment
Corporation group of companies Joe contributed to greater participation
and benefits for his citizens from economic activities on their
traditional lands. Joe will work closely with his colleague Charlie
Jim Nitsiza, former Chief of Whati, who joined Fortune last year to
help communicate the Company's plans for the NICO project to the Tlicho
people.
Fortune congratulates the organizers of the Learning Together conference
that took place in the communities of Yellowknife and Dettah during the
week of the Company's community meetings. This conference was held to
facilitate the sharing of best practices for positive aboriginal
relations and business development between mining companies and
aboriginal communities and encourage employment opportunities in the
mining sector. The Company was pleased to participate and help sponsor
this worthwhile event.
Fortune is advancing to the final step of the Developers Assessment
Report review process, being the Public Hearings Stage, which is
scheduled over a five day period starting on July 30, 2012. Upon
closing of the public registry, the Mackenzie Valley Review Board will
review all material and make its recommendation to the Minister of
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada concerning the
proposed mine development.
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 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 arrange the necessary 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 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.