Fortune Bay Engages Key Consultants to Advance the Goldfields Project
Press Release
HALIFAX, NS November 20, 2024 – Fortune Bay Corp. (TSXV:FOR, FWB:5QN, OTCQB:FTBYF) (“Fortune Bay” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce commencement of work to further advance its 100% owned Goldfields Gold Project (“Goldfields” or the “Project”), located in northern Saskatchewan. A Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) completed by Ausenco Engineering Canada Inc., in October 2022 (summarized below), has clearly demonstrated robust economics for Goldfields.
Fortune Bay has engaged with Fuse Advisors Inc. (“Fuse”) to define a project development roadmap (the “Study”) to advance the Project toward the next stage of engineering and design. The Study’s objective is to define the optimal path to production by evaluating permitting scenarios and various mine design, flowsheet and throughput cases, building upon the 2022 PEA and the approved 2008 Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) that remains valid today.
The Study will also leverage off the Project’s substantial repository of historical technical data from a 2011 Prefeasibility Study and a 2008 Feasibility Study for the Box Deposit, and the environmental baseline data set acquired for the 2008 EIS. As part of the Study, a plan and budget will be developed for advancing the Project into development. The Study is expected to take approximately two months to complete.
Dale Verran, CEO for Fortune Bay, commented “We are excited to be advancing Goldfields, which has the merits for a near-term, highly profitable gold mine located in Canada’s top-ranked mining jurisdiction. The Project produced robust PEA economics at considerably lower gold prices than we have today and is well positioned for rapid advancement given the foundation of existing technical and environmental data from previous work. This study represents an important step in defining the optimal path to production prior to commencing additional permitting activities and further de-risking through pre-feasibility or feasibility study. We are pleased to be working with Fuse at this stage of the Project, a boutique firm that specializes in such integrated studies, with direct experience in Saskatchewan and a record of successfully advancing Canadian gold projects.”
Goldfields Project highlights include:
- Robust economics from a PEA completed by Ausenco Engineering Canada Inc. in October 2022, including:
- After-tax NPV5% US$459M, IRR 50.5%, 1.3 year payback (at US$1,950/oz gold)
- 101,000 oz/year average annual gold production
- Low initial capital costs of C$234M
- Competitive all-in sustaining (“AISC”) cost of US$889/oz
- De-risked mineral resources with upside:
- Current open-pit mineral resource estimate of 979,900 oz Indicated (23.2 Mt at 1.31 g/t) and 210,800 oz Inferred (7.1 Mt at 0.92 g/t gold)
- PEA utilized 99% Indicated resources, no additional delineation drilling required for conversion to mineral reserves
- Accurate mineral resource estimate reconciliation with historical production from a small underground mine
- Significant resource expansion and exploration potential
- Conventional mining & processing:
- Open-pit mining (3:1 waste/ore) with simple mineralogy and standard free-milling flowsheet (95.3% recovery)
- Established infrastructure in a historical mining area, including a road and powerline to site
- Well-advanced permitting with an approved Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) from 2008 for an open-pit mine at the Box deposit and a 5,000 tpd mill
- Strong foundation of community engagement including an Exploration Agreement with First Nation Communities and Local Municipalities, which provides consent up to and including Feasibility Study and provision for negotiation of an Impact Benefit Agreement (“IBA”) for the mining stage
Technical Disclosure
The PEA, effective date October 31, 2022, was prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 by Ausenco Engineering Canada Inc., in collaboration with Moose Mountain Technical Services for the mine design, and SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. for the updated Mineral Resource Estimate and Environmental, Permitting and Social aspects. The PEA NI-43-101 Technical Report is available on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) and Fortune Bay’s website. A summary of the 2022 PEA can be found in the Company’s news release dated November 1, 2022.
Qualified Person
The technical and scientific information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Gareth Garlick, P.Geo., Technical Director of the Company, who is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Garlick is an employee of Fortune Bay and is not independent of the Company under NI 43-101.
About Fuse Advisors
Fuse Advisors is a boutique consultancy firm, focused on providing value services to the resource sector in Project Management, Technical Services and Advisory. Fuse Advisors develops fit-for-purpose solutions by taking a client-first approach, leveraging our team’s experience across the project lifecycle to identify and close gaps present between the silos of Exploration, Engineering, Permitting, Construction and Operations.
About Fortune Bay
Fortune Bay Corp. (TSXV:FOR, FWB:5QN, OTCQB:FTBYF) is an exploration and development company with 100% ownership in two advanced gold projects in Canada, Saskatchewan (Goldfields Project) and Mexico, Chiapas (Ixhuatán Project), both with exploration and development potential. The Company is also advancing seven uranium exploration projects on the northern rim of the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, which have high-grade potential. The Company has a goal of building a mid-tier exploration and development Company through the advancement of its existing projects and the strategic acquisition of new projects to create a pipeline of growth opportunities. The Company’s corporate strategy is driven by a Board and Management team with a proven track record of discovery, project development and value creation. Further information on Fortune Bay and its assets can be found on the Company’s website at www.fortunebaycorp.com or by contacting us as info@fortunebaycorp.com or by telephone at 902-334-1919.
On behalf of Fortune Bay Corp.
“Dale Verran”
Chief Executive Officer
902-334-1919
IBF4
