Fortune Minerals Signs Access Agreement With the Tlicho Government for the NICO Project Access Road

LONDON, Ontario– Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQB: FTMDF) (“Fortune” or the “Company”) (www.fortuneminerals.com) is pleased to announce that it has signed an Access Agreement with the Tlicho Government that supports the development of the NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project (“NICO Project”) in Canada’s Northwest Territories. The NICO Project is one of the few mineral development assets outside of the Democratic Republic of Congo positioned to service the accelerating demand for cobalt in lithium-ion batteries as the global automotive industry transitions to electric vehicles. The NICO Mineral Reserves also contain more than one million ounces of gold.

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The Access Agreement details the conditions under which Fortune can build and operate the 51 km NICO Project Access Road on Tlicho-owned lands between the community of Whati and the Company’s mineral leases. It also specifies the conditions for financial security for reclamation of the road that will be held by the Tlicho Government. Fortune can now complete the process to secure the water license and land use permit required to construct the road upon receipt of NICO Project financing.

Tlicho Government Grand Chief, George Mackenzie commented, “The signing of an Access Agreement with Fortune is an important step in the approvals process. We are now looking forward to concluding the required Impact and Benefits Agreement with Fortune Minerals, thereby ensuring Tlicho Citizens, communities and companies will benefit from the construction and operation of the NICO mine.”

Dr. Rick Schryer, Vice President of Environmental and Regulatory Affairs for Fortune stated that, “This Access Agreement is a significant step forward for Fortune Minerals as it provides for the access required to construct and operate the NICO mine. The Access Agreement demonstrates the strong working relationship between Fortune Minerals and the Tlicho Government as the Company advances the NICO Project toward construction.”

Fortune is also pleased to report that construction of the 97-kilometre, Tlicho All-Season Road (“Tlicho Road”) connecting the community of Whati with Highway 3 is progressing well. Government of the Northwest Territories land use inspection reports indicate that, as of October 31, 2019 Kiewit Canada Development Corp. had completed 32 km of brushing, 27 km of road bed stripping, and the road bed is constructed beyond Kilometre 25 where quarried material was being transported for use. The construction camp accommodating more than 100 workers had also been relocated from Kilometre 0 to Kilometre 19. The Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships recently recognized the Tlicho Road with a Gold Award for project development innovation and excellence, noting it is among the first in North America with an Indigenous government cash-funded equity stake in the project.

When it is completed, the Tlicho Road will provide a permanent all-season road connection between Whati and the Territorial highway system to reduce the cost of living and improve the quality of life in this currently isolated community. Together with the NICO Project Access Road, Fortune will then be able to truck metal concentrates from its proposed mine to the rail head at Hay River for delivery to a refinery and downstream processing to value added products.

The disclosure of scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been approved by Robin Goad, M.Sc., P.Geo., President and Chief Executive Officer of Fortune, who is a “Qualified Person” under National Instrument 43-101. The amount of gold contained in the NICO Project mineral reserves disclosed in this news release is derived from the Technical Report on the NICO Project, entitled “Technical Report on the Feasibility Study for the NICO-Gold-Cobalt-Bismuth-Copper Project, Northwest Territories, Canada”, dated April 2, 2014 and prepared by Micon International Limited which has been filed on SEDAR and is available under the Company’s profile at www.sedar.com.

About Fortune Minerals

Fortune is a Canadian mining company focused on developing the NICO Cobalt-Gold-Bismuth-Copper Project in the Northwest Territories. The Company has an option to purchase lands in Saskatchewan where it may build the hydrometallurgical plant to process NICO metal concentrates. Fortune also owns the Sue-Dianne Copper-Silver-Gold Deposit located 25 km north of the NICO Project, which is a potential future source of incremental mill feed to extend the life of the NICO Project mill.

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Fortune Minerals Limited
Troy Nazarewicz
Investor Relations Manager
info@fortuneminerals.com
Tel.: (519) 858-8188
www.fortuneminerals.com