2 September 2020
Fortune Minerals Limited is pleased to report that it has commenced the recently announced geophysical program over the expected east extension of the Company’s 100% owned NICO Gold-Cobalt-Bismuth-Copper Deposit in Canada’s Northwest Territories. Fortune contracted Yellowknife-based Aurora Geosciences Ltd. to conduct the initial phase of work comprised of induced polarization (“I.P.”) and ground magnetometer surveys over known geophysical anomalies along the east strike projection of the NICO Deposit. The objective of this work is to delineate targets for follow-up drilling where the Company believes the NICO Deposit has been displaced by faults.
Aurora is conducting the I.P. and ground magnetometer surveys over five priority targets identified in earlier airborne and ground geophysical surveys completed for Fortune and the Geological Survey of Canada (“GSC”). All five targets have coincident magnetic and gravity high anomalies with corresponding low resistivity indicative of a magnetic, dense and conductive source. The primary target is the 1.2 km wide Peanut Lake Anomaly, where the GSC also identified a coincident magnetotelluric anomaly that was also highlighted by three-dimensional inversion modelling of the combined data. The Peanut Lake Anomaly is centered 1 km southeast of the NICO Deposit and the underlying geology is largely covered by overburden and wetlands. Its significance was recently upgraded after road construction uncovered bedrock and boulders with mineralization that is similar to the NICO Deposit. Compilation of previous drilling in this area also identified five holes with gold values greater than 1 gram per tonne over 3 metre core lengths, including one hole intersecting 3 metres, grading 1.105 grams of gold per tonne and 0.355% cobalt. The mineralization unearthed by road construction and intersected in drill core confirm the continuation of gold and cobalt values east of the known NICO Deposit where the geology has been displaced by faults. The I.P. method is being applied to identify near surface concentrations of disseminated sulphide minerals that typically host the ores in Iron Oxide Copper-Gold (“IOCG”)-type deposits, including the NICO Deposit and Sue-Dianne satellite deposit.
The NICO Deposit, located 160 km northwest of Yellowknife, contains an IOCG-type ore deposit with Proven and Probable Open Pit and Underground Mineral Reserves totaling 33 million tonnes containing 1.1 million ounces of gold, 82.3 million pounds of cobalt, 102.1 million pounds of bismuth, and 27.2 million pounds of copper. The NICO Project is an advanced development asset comprised of a planned mine and concentrator in the Northwest Territories and a related refinery in southern Canada where metal concentrates would be processed to gold doré, cobalt sulphate, bismuth ingots and oxide, and copper precipitate. The NICO Project has received environmental assessment approval and the major mine permits for the facilities in the Northwest Territories and has also been assessed in a positive Feasibility Study by Micon International Limited in 2014.