Business
Fortune Minerals receives draft terms of reference for NICO environmental assessment
Fortune Minerals receives draft terms of reference for NICO environmental assessment
About this update from Fortune Minerals Limited
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\nSep. 17, 2009 (Canada NewsWire Group) -- LONDON, ON, Sept. 17 /CNW/ -- Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX-FT) (\"Fortune Minerals\" or the \"Company\") is pleased to announce that it has received the draft terms of reference (TOR) from the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board (MVEIRB) for the environmental assessment (EA) for the Company's NICO Gold-Cobalt-Bismuth-Copper project in the Northwest Territories. Receipt of the draft TOR is a significant milestone in the permitting process to develop the NICO project. With the first half of the EA process nearly complete, the Company is well positioned to move efficiently through the analytical phase of the EA.The TOR outlines the environmental, engineering and socio-economic information that Fortune Minerals will be required to address in the EA. The draft TOR is open for comment by interested parties until October 16, 2009, after which the TOR will be finalized and Fortune Minerals will have clear direction from the MVEIRB on the information that will be required to complete the EA. Fortune Minerals has already compiled the baseline environmental and engineering data required to characterize the pre-development conditions at the NICO site and assess the impacts from its proposed development.The NICO Gold-Cobalt-Bismuth-Copper project is located 160 km northwest of the City of Yellowknife, 50 km north of the Tlicho community of Whati, and 80 km north of the highway to Edmonton, Alberta. Fortune Minerals is permitting a combined open pit and underground mine to feed a conventional crushing, grinding and flotation mill, and related infrastructure at the NICO site to recover gold, cobalt, bismuth and copper in a bulk flotation concentrate. This concentrate will be trucked to the rail head at Hay River, Northwest Territories for delivery by rail to a refinery the Company will construct in southern Canada where it will produce gold and high purity cobalt, bismuth and copper cathodes (metals). Fortune Minerals is in negotiations with various landowners to purchase the property for this southern hydrometallurgical facility from a short list of sites in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.Fortune Minerals has already purchased the Golden Giant Mine buildings and equipment at Hemlo, Ontario from Newmont Canada Limited. These assets have been dismantled and are being stored at...