FORTUNE MINERALS CONFIRMS NEW ZONE AT NICO PROJECT Continuity of cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper intercepts established in Peanut Lake Zone
/g3
April 20, 2022 Issued Capital: 374,491,5 44
NEWS RELEASE
FORTUNE MINERALS CONFIRMS NEW ZONE AT NICO PROJECT
Continuity of cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper intercepts established in Peanut Lake Zone
LONDON, ONTARIO, Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQB: FTMDF) (“Fortune” or the
“Company”) (www.fortuneminerals.com) is pleased to report results from the 2021 drill program on i ts
100%-owned NICO Critical Minerals project (“NICO Project”) in the Northwest Territories (“NWT”) and
Alberta. The NICO Project is comprised of a planned open pit an d underground mine, mill and
concentrator in the NWT and a planned hydrometallurgical refine ry in Alberta’s Industustrial Heartland
northeast of Edmonton to process metal concentrates into value added products. The Mineral Reserves
for the NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper deposit (“ NICO Deposit”) contain 33.1 million metric tonnes
containing 37.3 million kilograms of cobalt, 1.1 million Troy o unces of gold, 46.3 million kilograms of
bismuth, and 12.3 million kilograms of copper. Drilling was caried out at the end of 2021 in order to test
four prospects that had been identified in earlier geophysical surveys and a 1997 drill program. The
recent drilling succesfully confirmed continuity of cobalt-gold-bismuth and local copper mineralization in
the Peanut Lake Zone, located 800 metres southeast of the NICO Deposit and also identified a potential
east strike extension of the deposit.
Like our news? Click-to-tweet.
Fortune completed 13 cored drill holes in 2021, totalling 2,482 .31 metres, supported in part by two
Mineral Incentive Program (“ MIP”) grants from the Government of the Northwest Territories, tot alling
C$244,000. Four holes were drilled to test the continuity of mineralization at Peanut Lake where drilling
in 1997 had identified multiple intercepts in five holes with gold grades exceeding 1 gram per tonne over
3 metre core lengths with significant cobalt and bismuth values. A new hole (21-008) was drilled to test
the continuity of mineralization in a 135 metre wide gap betwee n Holes 97-090 and 97-092, and
intersected three significant intervals of mineralization, including:
- 3.17 metres, averaging 0.423% cobalt, 0.554 g/t gold, and 0.3 69% bismuth at a depth of 28.7
metres, including 1.05 metres, grading 0.995% cobalt, 0.247 g/t gold, and 0.562% bismuth;
- 4.8 metres, averaging 0.118% cobalt and 0.500 g/t gold at a d epth of 8 metres, including 1.98
metres, averaging 0.261% cobalt and 1.135 g/t gold;
- 2.31 metres, averaging 0.108% cobalt and 0.874 g/t gold at a depth of 139.6 metres, including
1.16 metres, grading 0.203% cobalt and 1.635 g/t gold;
The 21-008 intersections correlate well with the earlier interc epts in Hole 97-090, located 78 metres to
the east that included 0.355% cobalt, 1.105 g/t gold, and 0.049 % bismuth over 3 metres at a depth of
6.4 metres, and 0.148% cobalt and 0.435 g/t gold over 3 metres at a depth of 57.5 metres, plus 0.123%
cobalt and 0.14 g/t gold over 3 metres at a depth of 69.5 metres. The 21-008 intersections also correlate
FORTUNE MINERALS LIMITED
617 Wellington Street, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 3R6
Tel. 519-858-8188 ~ Fax. 519-858-8155
/g3
with the intercepts previously identified in Hole 97-092 locate d approximately 70 metres to the west,
which included 0.113% cobalt and 0.885 g/t gold over 1.76 metres, and 3 metres, grading 1.82 g/t gold.
Holes 21-009 and 21-014 tested the strike continuity of the Pea nut Lake Zone east and west of the
aforesaid holes, respectively and identified multiple zones of lower grade cobalt-gold mineralization.
These, together with the results of the five 1997 drill hole intercepts, indicate continuity of economically
interesting mineralization over a minimum undelimited 400 metre strike length. Hole 21-007 overshot
the mineralized horizon but provides useful information to define the trend and geometry of the Peanut
Lake Zone for future drill delineation.
Six holes were drilled to test for an east strike extension of the NICO Deposit beyond a fault that was
previously believed to terminate the east end of the deposit. T hree holes (21-003, 21-015 and -016)
tested for north lateral and depth displacement of the deposit beyond the fault and intersected
economically interesting grades over narrow widths. Hole 21-015 intersected 0.110% cobalt and 0.599
g/t gold over 1.98 metres at a depth of 210.52 metres, includin g 1.08 metres, grading 0.219% cobalt
and 0.312 g/t gold. Hole 21-016 intersected mineralizaion, averaging 0.034% cobalt over 6 metres at a
depth of 43 metres, including 0.92 metres, grading 0.042% cobalt and 0.111% bismuth. The three holes
drilled to test for a south lateral displacement of the deposit did not intersect any significant
mineralization. The 2021 drill program successfully identified NICO-style mineralization along the east
projection of strike beyond the fault, but additional drilling will be required to identify areas with higher
grades and greater widths in order to extend the Mineral Reserves into this area.
Two drill holes tested the strike continuity of grades previously identified in the Ralph Zone in 1997 and
one drill hole tested the continuity of copper mineralization i dentified in the Road Cut Zone at depth.
None of these intersected economically interesting mineralization.
The NICO Deposit and Fortune’s 100%-owned Sue-Dianne copper-sil ver-gold satellite deposit (“ Sue-
Dianne Deposit ”), located 25 kilometres to the north, are Iron Oxide Copper-G old (“ IOCG”)-class
deposits. Global IOCG analogues, including the Olympic Dam mine in Australia, typically occur in
clusters of very large orebodies in similar tectonic and geological settings. The NICO Deposit is locally
open for potential expansion at depth. The 2021 drill program h as also verified that there is good
potential to delineate additional resources along the east projection of strike from known NICO Mineral
Reserves, and particularly in the Peanut Lake Zone. There are a lso several untested geophysical
anomalies identified on the NICO leases and surrounding areas. In addition, the Sue-Dianne Deposit
remains open for potential expansion.
The NICO Project is an advanced development stage Critical Minerals asset to provide a reliable North
American source of three Critical Minerals (cobalt, bismuth and copper). Fortune has expended more
than C$137 million to advance the NICO Project from an in-house discovery to a near-term producer
with a 20-year supply of Critical Minerals. The Company has rec eived environmental assessment
approval and the Type “A” Water License to construct and operat e the NICO mine and concentrator.
The recently completed Tlicho Highway to the community of Whati, together with the spur road Fortune
plans to construct, will enable metal concentrates to be trucke d to rail head south of Great Slave Lake
for railway delivery to the Company’s planned refinery in Alber ta. The NICO Project was previously
assessed in a positive Feasibility Study by Micon International Limited, which the Company plans to
update based on current costs and the project optimiztions it has identified over the past year.
For more detailed information about the NICO Mineral Re serves and certain technical information in this news
release, please refer to the Technical Report on the NI CO Project, entitled "Technical Report on the Feasibility
Study for the NICO-Gold-Cobalt-Bismuth-Copper Project, Northwest Territories, Canada", dated April 2, 2014 and
prepared by Micon International Limited which has been filed on SEDAR and is available under the Company's
profile at www.sedar.com.
/g3
The 2021 drill program was completed with NQ size drill core with logging by geologists qualified under NI 43-
101. Mineralized intervals were sawn along the core long axis with half samples, typically in 1 metre core lengths,
sent for analysis for 34 elements at ALS Global (“ALS”) in Yellowknife and North Vancouver. The program included
Quality Assurance / Quality Control (“ QA/QC”) measures, including the insertion of blanks and standards with
known grades to validate the analytical results. ALS is independent of Fortune. Fortune is not aware of any drilling,
sampling, recovery, or other factors that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the data referred to
herein. Based on the indicative geometry of the mineralization reported in the 2021 drill program, the widths that
are reported are believed to closely approximate true widths.
The disclosure of scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been approved by Robin
Goad, M.Sc., P.Geo., President and Chief Executive Officer of Fortune, who is a "Qualified Person" under National
Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”) . Mr. Goad supervised the
preparation of the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release and has reviewed
and approved the disclosure herein. Mr. Goad supervised the drill pr ogram and verified the data disclosed,
including sampling, analytical and QA/QC data, underlying the technical information in this news release, including
reviewing the reports of ALS, methodologies, results, and all procedures undertaken for QA/QC in a manner
consistent with industry practice, and all matters were consistent and accurate according to his professional
judgement. There were no limitations on the verification process.
2021 Drill Hole Location Summary
Hole ID UTM Easting
(metres)
UTM Northing
(metres)
Elevation
(metres)
Azimuth
(degrees)
Dip
(degrees)
Depth
(metres)
Target
21-001 513057.15 7046304.39 294.59 199.5 -45 155.00 East extens ion of
NICO Deposit
21-002 513119.50 7046314.86 295.94 199.5 -45 131.06 East extens ion of
NICO Deposit
21-003 513412.98 7046392.91 259.23 199.5 -45 259.93 East extens ion of
NICO Deposit
21-004A 513132.06 7046475.46 268.32 199.5 -45 26.00 East extens ion of
NICO Deposit
21-004B 513132.06 7046475.46 268.32 199.5 -45 206.15 East exten sion of
NICO Deposit
21-005 513778.88 7046078.94 226. 22 199.5 -45 160.35 Ralph Zone
21-006 514063.14 7046163.11 223. 68 199.5 -45 185.00 Ralph Zone
21-007 513592.05 7045763.49 201. 80 199.5 -45 105.81 Peanut Lake Zone
21-008 513785.95 7045807.55 213. 62 199.5 -45 191.07 Peanut Lake Zone
21-009 514003.01 7045774.81 205. 27 199.5 -45 248.02 Peanut Lake Zone
21-011 512744.70 7045382.90 201. 13 199.5 -45 168.92 Road Cut Zo ne
21-014 513686.32 7045808.46 200. 20 199.5 -45 186.96 Peanut Lake Zone
21-015 513280.98 7046441.88 226.00 199.5 -45 226.00 East extens ion of
NICO Deposit
21-016 513505.22 7046309.11 232.04 199.5 -45 232.04 East extens ion of
NICO Deposit
About Fortune Minerals:
Fortune is a Canadian mining company focused on developing the NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper
Critical Minerals project in the NWT and Alberta. Fortune also owns the satellite Sue-Dianne copper-
silver-gold deposit located 25 km north of the NICO Deposit and is a potential future source of
incremental mill feed to extend the life of the NICO mill and concentrator.
Follow Fortune Minerals:
Click here to subscribe to Fortune’s email list.
/g3
Click here to follow Fortune on LinkedIn.
@FortuneMineral on Twitter.
For further information please contact:
Fortune Minerals Limited
Troy Nazarewicz
Investor Relations Manager
Tel: (519) 858-8188
www.fortuneminerals.com
This press release contains forward-looking informati on and forward-looking statements within the meaning of
applicable securities legislation. This forward-looking information includes statements with respect to, among
other things, the development of the NICO Project, the potential for expansion of the NICO Depositand statements
regarding drill results and future drilling and assays. Fo rward-looking information is based on the opinions and
estimates of management as well as certain assumptions at the date the information is given (including, in respect
of the forward-looking information contained in this press release, assumptions regarding: the Company’s ability
to complete construction of a NICO Project refinery; the Company’s ability to arrange the necessary financing to
continue operations and develop the NICO Project; the support of the federal and/or provincial government for the
NICO Project; the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals for the construction and operation of the NICO
Project and the related hydrometallurgical refinery and t he timing thereof; growth in the demand for cobalt; the
time required to construct the NICO Project; and the ec onomic environment in which the Company will operate
in the future, including the price of gold, cobalt and other by-product metals, anticipated costs and the volumes of
metals to be produced at the NICO Project). However, such forward-looking information 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 fa ctors include the risks that the 2021 drill program may not
result in a meaningful expansion of the NICO Deposit, the continuing effects of the COVID-19, the Company may
not be able to complete the purchase of the JSFL site an d secure a site for the construction of a refinery, the
Company may not be able to finance and develop the NICO Project on favourable terms or at all, uncertainties
with respect to the receipt or timing of required per mits, approvals and agreements for the development of the
NICO Project, including the related hydrometallurgical refinery, the construction of the NICO Project may take
longer than anticipated, the Company may not be able to secure offtake agreements for the metals to be produced
at the NICO Project, the Company’s Sue-Dianne Property may not be developed to the point where it can provide
mill feed to the NICO Project, the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties
and in the mining industry in general, the market for products that use cobalt or bismuth may not grow to the extent
anticipated, the future supply of cobalt and bismuth may not be as limited as anticipated, the risk of decreases in
the market prices of cobalt, bismuth and other metals to be produced by the NICO Project, discrepancies between
actual and estimated Mineral Resources or between actual and estimated metallurgical recoveries, uncertainties
associated with estimating Mineral Resources and Reserves and the risk that even if such Mineral Resources
prove accurate the risk that such Mineral Resources may not be converted into Mineral Reserves once economic
conditions are applied, the Company’s production of cobalt, bismuth and other metals may be less than anticipated
and other operational and development risks, market ri sks and regulatory risks. Reade rs 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.