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Gold/Mining/Energy : Fortune Minerals Limited (TSE - FT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Richnorth who wrote (562)	6/1/2001 9:01:36 AM
From: Richnorth	Respond to of 612

May 31, 2001 FORTUNE MINERALS ANNOUNCES IMPROVED METAL RECOVERIES FROM NICO DEPOSIT Fortune Minerals announces that results of recent metallurgical test work have improved the recoveries of metals predicted for the Company’s 80% owned NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth deposit in the Northwest Territories. NICO is a large, low-grade deposit amenable to open pit extraction with a low strip ratio. The deposit is 160km northwest of the City of Yellowknife, 20km west of the Snare hydro complex, and 8km west of the past producing Rayrock mine and it’s former access road. An updated study assessing the economics of the NICO deposit is currently in preparation by Strathcona Minerals Services Limited (Strathcona) and expected to be completed shortly. As part of the updated Strathcona study, additional metallurgical test work was carried out at Lakefield Research under the supervision of Klaus Konigsmann of KVK Consulting Associates Inc. The objective of the current work was to improve recoveries for cobalt and gold while determining an acceptable recovery for bismuth that was not contemplated in the previous economic assessment. NICO contains one of the largest known resources of bismuth in the world and new markets are being developed, largely as a replacement for lead because of lead-toxicity and related environmental issues. Bismuth is now expected to contribute revenues to the project. The current work has simplified the NICO processing flow sheet and consists of conventional crushing and grinding followed by flotation to generate auriferous cobalt and bismuth concentrates for sale or subsequent processing to higher value products. Recoveries are now estimated at 83% for cobalt, 42% for bismuth, and 50 to 70% for gold depending on the head grade. Recent tests have determined that fine grinding improves gold recovery by a further 5% such that a 75% recovery can be achieved from the higher-grade (>5g/t) portions of the deposit. The bismuth concentrate contains between 45 and 50% bismuth with low arsenic concentrations. The cobalt concentrate grades between 2.5 and 6% cobalt, depending on the origin of ores from within the deposit. Approximately 25% of the recoverable gold reports to the bismuth concentrate and would be recovered at the smelter. Fortune has received expressions of interest from two companies interested in purchasing auriferous bismuth concentrates from the NICO deposit. The cobalt concentrate conversely, would be processed by acid pressure oxidation to higher-value cobalt metal or compounds with the contained gold recovered by cyanidation of the residue. The current Strathcona study is assessing options for constructing such a facility on site or processing the cobalt concentrates at nearby existing plants. Notably, analyst presentations at the recent meeting of the Cobalt Development Institute estimated that current cobalt consumption has grown to 40,200 tonnes with average annual growth over the last ten years at 4.44%. The market is reportedly in balance and new deposits would be required to be developed by 2005 in order to maintain price stability. Fortune Minerals is an exploration company with diverse interests in projects in the Northwest Territories and Ontario. It is the operating partner in the NICO and Sue-Dianne deposits and has interests in other base and precious metals and diamond exploration projects. Fortune is the operating partner in Formosa Environmental Aggregates Ltd., an industrial mineral development company. Fortune Minerals Limited [signed] Robin E. Goad, President. Further information can be obtained from Fortune Minerals at: Tel: 519-858-888, Fax: 519-858-8155, Email: info@fortuneminerals.com, and Website: www.fortuneminerals.com