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| January 14, 2010 --- Vol. 4, No.02 | January 2010
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Northwest Territories
POLYMETALLIC – Fortune Minerals Ltd. Jan. 14 reported details of a new mine plan and a 43 percent increase in mineral reserves at its Nico gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper project located 160 kilometers, or 99 miles, northwest of Yellowknife and 50 kilometers, or 31 miles, north of the Tlicho community of Whati in Northwest Territories. The update, prepared by P&E Mining Consultants Inc., increased the proven and probable mineral reserves for Nico to 31 million metric tons from the 21.8 million metric tons established previously in a 2007 definitive feasibility study for the project. The new mine plan and larger mineral reserves will extend the operating life by three years of the Nico mine and process plant to 18 years at a 16 percent higher, 4,650-metric-tons-per-day production rate, and positively impact project economics. The update boosted reserves estimates for gold content by 147,000 ounces to 907,000 ounces; cobalt content by 21 million pounds to 82 million pounds; and bismuth content by 32 million pounds to 109 million pounds. It also calculated copper content at 27 million pounds. Fortune said gold would be the largest projected source of revenue for the project during its first two years of operations at current metal prices. Nico’s reserves contain 4.9 million ounces gold equivalent at metal price assumptions used in the study. It also identified 6.5 million metric tons of additional marginal subeconomic mineralized material to be stockpiled for potential future processing. The new open pit mine plan reduces initial capital by eliminating 10 million metric tons of waste pre-stripping; lowers mining costs with greatly reduced backfill requirements; includes higher metal recoveries verified from the pilot plant. The study also calculated recovery rates of 56-84 percent (72 percent average) for gold, 83 percent for cobalt, 70 percent for bismuth and 52 percent for copper. Operating costs in the study are based on Fortune’s plan to process the mine’s ore at a processing facility in Saskatchewan.
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