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Fortune Minerals announces pilot plant hydrometallurgy results for the NICO gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper deposit
Issued Capital: 55,550,107 Production of high quality metal products proven with improved recover...
About this update from Fortune Minerals Limited
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\nIssued Capital: 55,550,107\n\n\nProduction of high quality metal products proven with improved recoveries\n\n\nLONDON, ON, Feb. 24 /CNW Telbec/ - Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX-FT)\n("Fortune Minerals" or the "Company") is pleased to announce results of the\ndownstream hydrometallurgical processing of NICO concentrates from its $5\nmillion pilot plant test recently completed at SGS Lakefield Research Limited\n("Lakefield") in Lakefield, Ontario. The pilot plant has successfully proven\nthe processing of ores from Fortune's 100% owned NICO\ngold-cobalt-bismuth-copper deposit in the Northwest Territories to high value\nmetal products: cobalt and bismuth cathode, gold dore and copper cement.\nNotably, the pilot plant has also demonstrated operational improvements,\nhigher metal recoveries, and production of higher value products than the base\nassumptions used in the Company's definitive feasibility study for NICO\ncompleted by Micon International Limited ("Micon") in 2007, and the economic\nupdate in 2008 (see Fortune Minerals news releases, dated May 8, 2008, and\nJanuary 16, 2007). Collectively, these improvements are expected to have a\nmaterial positive impact on the economics of an already robust project.\n\n\nThe crushing, grinding and flotation components of the Lakefield pilot\nplant to the production of gold-bearing cobalt and bismuth concentrates were\ncompleted earlier in 2008. The operational improvements and higher metal\nrecoveries for these components of the process flow sheet have already been\nannounced (see Fortune Minerals news release, dated February 6, 2008). Fortune\nMinerals is very pleased to report that the downstream hydrometallurgical\nprocessing of these concentrates to high value metal products has also\nproduced operational improvements, higher metal recoveries, and proven the\nproduction of higher value metal products than previously reported. A summary\nof the results of the downstream hydrometallurgical components of the\nLakefield pilot plant and the improvements over the base assumptions used in\nthe Micon feasibility study are as follows:\n\n\nGOLD\n----\n- Production of gold dore has been proven;\n- Gold recovery from the bismuth concentrate has increased from 94 to\n 95%;\n- Gold recovery from the cleaner float tails has increased from 50 to\n 78%...