Fortune Minerals finds more gold at NICO project in N.W.T.

A new discovery on its NICO project, 150 km north of Yellowknife, N.W.T., has brought Fortune Minerals (CDN) a step closer to living up to its name.

Fortune recently carried out mapping, gravity surveying, airborne geophysics and trenching on the 6,547-hectare NICO polymetallic property. The latest assays confirm a new discovery, referred to as the Summit Peak zone, with grades of up to 9.44% copper and 0.469% tungsten, plus 1.2 grams gold per tonne. The structure was traced intermittently along a 2.5-km strike length and remains open in both directions.

A second new area of mineralization, known as the Bowl zone, was discovered 800 metres southeast of Summit Peak. The zone returned grades of up to 1.4% cobalt, 0.491% bismuth and 0.408% copper, as well as 8.4 grams gold per tonne, and it is at least 280 metres wide along a 400-metre strike length before continuing beneath overburden.

The strike and width extension of the Bowl zone beneath the overburden is where an earlier reconnaissance survey detected a bull’s-eye gravity anomaly extending more than 2 km in length and 600 metres in width. Preliminary airborne geophysical testing also detected a large, low-resistivity anomaly in this area.

The newly discovered Rare Earth Element zone is 200 metres south of the Bowl zone and can be traced at least 600 metres along strike and for up to 15 metres of width. It contains erratic copper concentrations of up to 0.75%, and preliminary electron microprobe analysis indicates an enrichment of rare earth elements. Samples from this zone are being re-analyzed.

Several additional areas of mineralization have been discovered on the NICO claims, including the Chalco Lake zone (assaying up to 2.1% copper), the Derek zone (up to 0.97%), the NICO Lake zone (up to 1.58 grams gold per tonne and 1% cobalt) and the Burke Lake zone (up to 0.93% copper, 0.74% bismuth, 0.73% cobalt, 0.84% zinc and 0.22% lead, plus 4.69 grams gold per tonne). Most of these new zones have not been fully delineated.

Fortune is awaiting the results of its reconnaissance and gravity surveys, its airborne geophysical survey and its analysis of rare earth elements. An extensive drill program is set to begin upon receipt of this information.