FORTUNE MINERALS REPORTS SUCCESFUL NICO PILOT TESTS

LONDON, ON, March 16 /CNW/ --
Addition of gravity, regrind and secondary flotation increases metal
recovery to bulk concentrate and eliminates the need for cyanide
facilities in the NWT

Issued Capital: 107,219,427

LONDON, ON, March 16 /CNW/ - Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT) ('Fortune Minerals' or the 'Company') is pleased to announce successful
results for mini-pilot plant, gravity, and confirmatory flotation tests
conducted at SGS Lakefield Research Limited ('SGS Lakefield') on
samples of ores from the Company's 100% owned NICO
gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper deposit in the Northwest Territories
('NWT').   The Company concluded that the addition of gravity, regrind and secondary flotation facilities at
the Company's proposed NICO concentrator increases metal recovery
during flotation and eliminates the need to construct cyanide leaching
and smelting facilities in the NWT.  This mitigates the duplication of
similar unit operations that are planned to be constructed at the
Company's proposed Saskatchewan Metals Processing Plant ('SMPP') near
Saskatoon where bulk concentrates from the proposed mine will be
processed to high value metal products. Elimination of cyanide use at the concentrator will also reduce the
potential for environmental impacts in the NWT related to tailings
storage and effluent treatment, and the change is in keeping with the
wishes of the Tlicho people who own the lands surrounding the Company's
mining leases and are stakeholders for the proposed development.

The test work at SGS Lakefield consisted of investigations to maximize
the incremental recovery of gold to the bulk concentrate that is
planned to be shipped from the concentrator in the NWT to the SMPP for
processing to high value metal products.  Prior to the Company's
decision to move the downstream hydrometallurgical processing
facilities to Saskatoon, all of the processing was planned to be
conducted at the NICO site, including cyanide leaching to recover gold
from the cleaner flotation tailings, autoclave residues, and bismuth
leach residues.  Following the 2007 flotation pilot plant, the data was
analyzed by the Company's consultants, and approximately 6% of the
overall recoverable gold contained in NICO ores reported to the cleaner
flotation tailings, and this material represents 8% of the concentrator
ore feed and would be cost prohibitive to ship to Saskatchewan for
processing.  As a result, recovery of the gold that reports to the
cleaner flotation tailings necessitated duplication of the cyanide
recovery circuit and smelting components in the NWT at additional
capital cost.  To maintain planned gold recovery, it was necessary to
undertake testing of alternate recovery routes to incrementally
increase the gold recovery to the bulk concentrate without
significantly increasing the volume.

First, SGS Lakefield completed Gravity Recoverable Gold ('GRG') testing
on two sub-composite ore samples mined during the Company's 2007
underground bulk sampling program representing medium gold grade
cobalt-associated and bismuth-associated gold.  GRG testing is an
industry accepted approach for predicting the available amount of gold
that can be recovered in a gravity centrifuge and the results indicated
GRG recoveries of 11% and 18% from the cobalt- and bismuth-associated
composites, respectively.  These results were then utilised by a third
party gravity centrifugal concentrator supplier to model the predicted
benefit of gravity recovery within the NICO grinding circuit upstream
of flotation by benchmarking the proposed NICO circuit against the
response of existing circuits with similar known GRG profiles.  Because
some of the gold would have otherwise been recovered during flotation,
the modelling predicted that the recovery benefit would be
approximately 1-4% depending on the mineralization and grade.  Fortune
Minerals is using a conservative 2% increase in incremental gold
recovery using gravity for future reserve and resource modelling for
the deposit and its financial model.

Second, using composite samples created for the 2007 pilot test, SGS
Lakefield completed standardized kinetic flotation testing and
modelling to optimize the bulk rougher and cleaner circuit in an effort
to minimize the amount of gold that reported to the cleaner tailings. 
These SGS Lakefield proprietary programs are referred to as 'MinnovEx'
flotation tests for kinetics and the 'Flotation Economic Evaluation
Tool' for simulation.  The kinetic parameters were utilized to evaluate
different flotation configurations through the simulation using the
proposed NICO flow sheet and equipment sizing.  The model confirmed
that continued use of the primary grinding targets, followed by
flotation in the base case primary circuit, was optimum to maintain
overall recovery of cobalt to the bulk concentrate for shipment to the
SMPP because cobalt recovery decreases with over-grinding.  However,
additional incremental gold recovery would be possible by the addition
of a re-grind circuit treating the smaller cleaner flotation tailings
stream, followed by secondary rougher and cleaner flotation, using the
same flotation reagents used in the primary circuit.  This secondary
regrind-flotation circuit configuration was tested by locked cycle
tests using a new 50 tonne composite sample prepared from ore mined
during the 2007 NICO underground bulk sampling program.  Results of
this testing confirmed base case recovery assumption in the primary
circuit, as well as the incremental increase in recovery of gold
through the secondary-regrind circuit to the bulk concentrate.  Further
pilot testing at 400 kg per hour confirmed that the regrind-secondary
flotation circuit could conservatively achieve additional gold recovery
of 2% with only an additional 0.3 to 0.7% increase in the volume of the
bulk concentrate for shipment south.  In addition to the increase in
gold recovery, the pilot test also indicated a minor recovery increase
of approximately 1% for cobalt, bismuth, and copper to the concentrate.

The Company believes that an additional advantage to recovering this
gold in the bulk concentrate is that it will be subjected to pressure
oxidation during downstream processing at the SMPP, which allows for an
improvement in the recovery of gold during leaching.  The downstream
metallurgical recovery of gold, cobalt, bismuth, and copper from the
increased mass pull to the bulk concentrate demonstrated by this
program has not been proven, but is strongly supported by results of
previous hydrometallurgical pilot testing.   Fortune Minerals therefore
concluded that with the addition of a gravity circuit, regrind circuit,
and secondary flotation for the cleaner flotation tailings, the need to
construct standalone cyanide leaching and smelting facilities in the
NWT is eliminated. 

Further, SGS Lakefield also conducted confirmatory flotation tests at
different head grades on NICO ore sub-composite samples to determine
the impact of cobalt and bismuth recovery from ores with very low
cobalt or bismuth grades, which is predicted to occur in the mine plan
infrequently.  Sub-composites were tested at 0.02% feed grade for
cobalt and bismuth, and bismuth recovery was not significantly affected
by processing lower grade ore.  The recovery of cobalt to the bulk
concentrate from a sub-composite at a feed grade of 0.02% cobalt was
approximately 5% less than the global recovery utilised to generate the
2007 reserve calculation that resulted in a life of mine average of
0.12% cobalt.  Gold recovery was not impacted in either case based on
locked-cycle tests.

The SGS Lakefield gravity, regrind and secondary flotation, and
confirmatory tests were conducted under the supervision of Michael
Samuels, B.Eng., Director of Technical Services, Fortune Minerals and
Alex Mezei, M.Sc., P.Eng., Director, Engineering Technology Services,
the Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101 on behalf of SGS. 
The flow sheet changes described herein have already been incorporated
into front-end engineering and design studies completed by Aker Metals,
a division of Aker Solutions that was recently sold to Jacobs
Engineering.

Fortune Minerals had been waiting for the results of the aforesaid test
work in order to use the updated recovery estimates together with the
results of the 37 new drill holes completed at NICO in the 2010 drill
program to prepare an updated Mineral Reserve estimate.  P&E Mining
Consultants Inc. is preparing the new Mineral Reserve estimate which is
expected to be completed by mid-April.  Based on existing data, NICO
contains Mineral Reserves of 31 million tonnes, averaging 0.91 g/t
gold, 0.12% cobalt, 0.16% bismuth and 0.04% copper, containing 907,000
ounces of gold, 82 million pounds of cobalt, 109 million pounds of
bismuth, and 27 million pounds of copper (see Fortune news release,
dated January 14, 2010(1)).

(1)For additional information on the NICO mineral reserves, please see
Fortune Minerals' News Release, dated January 14, 2010 and the
information posted for the Company on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.  Eugene Puritch, P.Eng. and Fred H. Brown, CPG PrSciNat, both of P&E
Mining Consultants Inc., are the Qualified Persons responsible for the
NICO mineral reserves under NI 43-101.

Fortune Minerals has recently completed a small winter program of
condemnation drilling beneath the NICO mill and camp site, plus
geotechnical drilling at the proposed NICO airport site.  No
significant mineralization was identified immediately beneath the NICO
plant site.

The NICO project consists of a proposed mine and concentrator in the
Northwest Territories, located 160 km northwest of the City of
Yellowknife.  A vertically integrated hydrometallurgical process plant
will also be constructed near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where NICO
concentrates will be processed to gold doré, 99.8% cobalt cathode,
99.99% copper cathode and 99.99% bismuth ingot or 99.5% cathode.  Both
sites are currently in the environmental assessment process for
permitting.  NICO has already been assessed in a positive definitive
feasibility study by Micon International Limited that was updated in
2008 and shows an attractive rate of return for the development (see
Fortune news release, dated May 8, 2008). 

About Fortune Minerals:


Fortune Minerals is a diversified resource company with several mineral
deposits and a number of exploration projects, all located in Canada. 
The Company is focused on the development of its NICO
gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper deposit in the Northwest Territories and its
metals processing plant in Saskatchewan.  Fortune Minerals owns the
buildings and equipment from the Golden Giant Mine at Hemlo, Ontario,
which have been dismantled, moved, and stored for relocation to NICO. 
Fortune Minerals also owns the Mount Klappan anthracite coal deposits
in British Columbia, the Sue-Dianne copper-silver deposit and other
exploration projects in the Northwest Territories.  Fortune Minerals is
focused on outstanding performance and growth of shareholder value
through assembly and development of high quality mineral resource
projects.

This press release contains forward-looking information. This
forward-looking information includes statements with respect to, among
other things, proposed development of the NICO project, the potential
for increasing reserves at the NICO project, the proposed development
of the Saskatchewan Metals Processing Plant ('SMPP') and the
anticipated recoveries of metals from the NICO project .
Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of
management at the date the information is given, and is subject to a
variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause
actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in
the forward-looking information.  These factors include the inherent
risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral
properties, the inherent volatility of metal prices, the risk that the
Company may not be able to arrange the necessary financing to construct
and operate the NICO mine and the SMPP, uncertainties with respect to
the receipt or timing of required permits for the development of the
NICO project and the SMPP, the possibility of delays in the
commencement of production from the NICO project and construction of
the SMPP, the risk that actual recoveries of metals from the NICO
project may not be consistent with test results and other factors.
Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking
information because it is possible that predictions, forecasts,
projections and other forms of forward-looking information will not be
achieved by the Company.  The forward-looking information contained
herein is made as of the date hereof and the Company assumes no
responsibility to update or revise it to reflect new events or
circumstances, except as required by law.

To view this news release in HTML formatting, please use the following URL: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2011/16/c3212.html