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Fortune Minerals Announces Tlicho All-Season Highway to the Community of Whati Will Open to the Public November 30
LONDON, Ontario / Nov 05, 2021 / Business Wire / Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQB: FTMDF) (“Fortune” or the “Company”) (www.fortuneminerals.com) is ple
About this update from Fortune Minerals Limited
[{"type":"text","content":"LONDON, Ontario / Nov 05, 2021 / Business Wire / Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQB: FTMDF) (“Fortune” or the “Company”) (www.fortuneminerals.com) is pleased to report that the Tlicho all-season road linking the community of Whati to the national highway system will open to the public on November 30, 2021 (see November 3, 2021 Joint Government News Release). This initiative of the Northwest Territories (“NWT”), federal and Tlicho governments will provide year-round access to the previously isolated community of Whati reducing the cost of living, improving the delivery of services, and facilitating economic development in tourism, mineral exploration and development, and potential hydro power projects. The road is a key enabler for Fortune’s NICO Cobalt-Gold-Bismuth-Copper Project (“NICO Project”). After completion of the Company’s planned spur road to the mine, metal concentrates can be trucked to the railway at Enterprise or Hay River for delivery to Fortune’s planned refinery in southern Canada. “I would like to congratulate the Tlicho people on realizing a 40-year vision to establish this essential road link to the community of Whati, which will also make the winter ice roads extending north to Gameti and Wekweeti more reliable with climate change. It is gratifying to see three levels of government working with industry to complete important infrastructure to improve the lives of generations of Northerners,” stated Robin Goad, President and CEO of Fortune Minerals Limited. The Tlicho Highway is a 97-kilometre, two-lane gravel all-season road to Whati constructed by North Star Infrastructure under a 28-year, $400 million design-build-operate-maintain contract with the Government of the NWT. The capital costs include up to $53 million in federal government contributions through the Canada Infrastructure Fund. Fortune plans to construct a 50-kilometre spur road from Whati to the mine site which was approved with the environmental assessment for the mine. The Company has also completed an Access Agreement with the Tlicho Government setting out the terms and conditions for construction of this road. With the Tlicho Highway now in place, some previously planned facilities for the mine can be eliminated, reducing capital cost escalation and construction timelines and mitigating supply chain risks during construction. The NICO...