Random rants on great fall day !

Saskatchewan is growing up look at this news ?

Fortune Minerals announces agreement to purchase lands near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for NICO refinery
Due-diligence in progress to close transaction

LONDON, ON, Nov. 3 /CNW/ - Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX-FT) ("Fortune Minerals" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to purchase lands near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on which the Company proposes to construct its Southern Hydrometallurgical Facility ("SHMF" or "refinery") for the NICO gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper project. NICO is a planned vertically integrated project to mine and concentrate ores from the Company's deposit in the Northwest Territories. Bulk concentrates will be transported by truck and rail to the Saskatoon area for processing to high-value metal products, including gold doré, cobalt, copper and bismuth cathodes, and a nickel precipitate by-product. Earlier this year, Fortune Minerals announced that it was evaluating a number of sites in southern Canada to construct this facility (see Fortune Minerals News release, dated July 28, 2009). The relocation of the metal refining part of the project from the mine site to the Saskatoon area is being done to reduce capital and operating costs for the project, mitigate exposure to increasing energy costs, accelerate the construction schedule, reduce environmental impacts at the mine site, and speed the permitting process already in progress. Fortune Minerals believes that the selection of this site is an important step forward in its planned development of the NICO project and reduces project risk.

The purchase of lands in the Saskatoon area is subject to certain conditions, including completion of satisfactory due-diligence of the site and appropriate rezoning. Enterprise Saskatchewan and the Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority have been working with Fortune Minerals personnel over the last several months to identify a Saskatchewan location for this state of the art metallurgical processing plant in the province. Enterprise Saskatchewan Minister Ken Cheveldayoff said, "We are very pleased that Fortune Minerals has chosen Saskatchewan over other potential locations for this new and exciting project that means jobs and investment in the Saskatoon area."

The proposed Saskatoon refinery site includes access to the main line of the Canadian National Railway, which can accommodate a spur for delivery of concentrates from the mine, reagents and other supplies, and ship metal products to industrial centres in North America or points of export. The property is in close proximity to the Trans-Canada Highway and other services including power, natural gas, and water supply. Saskatoon is the fastest growing city in Canada and the commercial centre for the province of Saskatchewan. "With a diversified economy, a highly skilled work force and respected post-secondary institutions, Saskatoon can accommodate everything that is required to construct and operate this refinery" said Fortune Minerals President, Robin Goad.

Based on the Company's current mine plan, the Saskatoon refinery will process approximately 80,000 tonnes of NICO sulphide concentrates each year, producing average annual production of approximately 4 million pounds of 99.8% cobalt cathode, 4.2 million pounds of 99.5% bismuth cathode, as well as 81,000 ounces of gold in each of the first two years of the mine life, followed by 27,000 ounces of annual gold production in subsequent years. Approximately 760,000 pounds of 99.9% copper cathode and a nickel precipitate will also be produced as by-products of the cobalt refining process. Notably, the process flow sheet, production of high value metal products and metal recoveries have all been proved by pilot plant testing.

When it enters production, NICO is expected to be a significant global producer of cobalt to service increasing demand in high performance rechargeable batteries used in portable electronic devices and electric- and hybrid-electric cars. Cobalt is also used in superalloys, magnets, high strength steels, catalysts, pigments and food additives (Vitamin B12). NICO is also expected to be the largest independent producer of bismuth in the world to service growth in the demand for traditional products (medicines, flame retardants, fusible alloys, castings, cosmetics, lubricants, dimensionally stable compounds / alloys, and chemicals). Due to concerns about lead-toxicity, the market is also growing for a variety of new products that have been developed because bismuth is an environmentally safe replacement for lead. The gold contained in the NICO deposit is an attractive counter cyclical hedge, which is primarily recovered during early years of the mine life.

Fortune Minerals has determined that relocating its refinery to Saskatoon produces positive net impacts for the entire NICO development for the benefit of all stakeholders. It may also provide the Company with an opportunity to source materials from other projects for custom processing and also to participate in the metals recycling business. Undertaking such business activities would provide for a sustainable project extending beyond the anticipated life of the NICO mine. The Saskatoon refinery is expected to employ 85 people over a 15 to 20 year period based on the anticipated life of the NICO deposit alone. Investment in the refinery is estimated at $150 million and construction is anticipated to commence upon receipt of the NICO mine permits and project financing. NICO is in the second phase of environmental assessment for mine permitting and is under review for senior project financing by BNP Paribas, a world class bank and highly ranked market leader in global mine finance.


About Fortune Minerals


Fortune Minerals is a diversified natural resource company with several mineral deposits and a number of exploration projects, all located in Canada. They include the Mount Klappan anthracite coal deposits in British Columbia, and the NICO gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper deposit, the Sue-Dianne copper-silver deposit and other base and precious metals exploration projects in the Northwest Territories. Fortune Minerals owns the buildings and equipment from the Golden Giant Mine at Hemlo, Ontario, which have been dismantled for relocation to NICO. 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, or may be based upon, estimates, forecasts, and statements as to management's expectations with respect to, among other things, the completion of the purchase of the SHMF and production from the NICO project and the SHMF. 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 uncertainties involved in the receipt of necessary permits and approvals, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drilling results and other geologic data, fluctuating metal prices, the possibility of project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, uncertainties related to metal recoveries and other factors. The forward-looking information contained herein is given as of the date hereof and the Company assumes no responsibility to update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.

For further information: Fortune Minerals Limited:

Potash payday for Rocanville
Community prepares for pros, cons of mini-boom
With a population nearing 1,000 people, the town of Rocanville is preparing for an influx of new faces as the nearby Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan mine pushes forward with a $2.8-billion capacity expansion project. A year from now, 1,200 contract workers are expected to live and work at the potash mine, more than doubling the immediate population of the area.

- - -

As the mid-afternoon sun shines in through the half-dressed windows of Rocanville's bakery, Cherie Dukart takes a moment to eat a quick lunch of deli meat on a slice of homemade bread.

Since 7 a.m., the owner of the Oven Door Bakery & Cafe has been busy baking buns, breads and sweet treats for the community of nearly 1,000 people. During the lunch hour, she and her staff barely had a moment to gather their thoughts while they made and served sandwiches to hungry workers, sliced large pieces of hot pizza for high school students and poured bowls of homemade minestrone and cream of potato soup to local women who had gathered to talk about the news of the day.

It's a pace Dukart, who bought the shop five months ago, expects will quicken as the weeks roll on. The population in the cozy, southeast Saskatchewan town continues to rise as more people move to the region looking to benefit from a $2.8-billion capacity expansion project at Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc.'s Rocanville potash mine, located a short drive from the community.

"Business has increased and that's because there's a lot of contractors and that sort of thing out there," said Dukart, who resides 30 minutes away in the town of Fleming. "Apparently (there's) a lot of unfamiliar faces to a lot of people, which is good. They're all shopping; they're eating; they're lodging. They're all doing things that generate the economy."

The global demand for the pink plant nutrient, which is a key ingredient in fertilizer, is changing the town, located about 230 kilometres east of Regina. Surrounded by golden fields but a few kilometres from the deep and winding Qu'Appelle Valley, Rocanville is boasting neon red No Vacancy signs on its motels and beige wood frames for new buildings and homes in the area.

In addition to more bakery business, Dukart hopes the influx of people the region is preparing for -- 1,200 contractors are expected to be working at the mine site a year from now -- brings new retail shops, specifically clothing stores, to the area.

"It's just a win-win situation, I think, for the area, and not just for Rocanville. There's spinoffs into Moosomin and maybe north into Esterhazy," she said.

MANY NEW FACES IN TOWN

Indeed, Mayor Daryl Fingas has seen first-hand the changes an increasing demand for potash has brought to the area. A resident of Rocanville for the past 28 years, and mayor for the past nine, Fingas once knew everyone in the community by name. With so many new faces in town, that reality no longer exists.

"It's a nice small community where you still almost know everybody," Fingas said on a chilly October evening.

The general consensus around town is that the impact of the multibillion-dollar expansion at PotashCorp's Rocanville operation on the community is, and will continue to be, a good thing, said the mayor.

Fingas, who works in the potash industry at Mosaic Co.'s Esterhazy mine, said PotashCorp is footing the bill for a new lagoon -- a project that would have cost the town about $2.5 million -- in exchange for providing water to the site. Plans for a new residential subdivision with close to 20 lots are well underway and a new medical centre has attracted a regional doctor for at least three days a week.

"I never thought it would ever be like this," he said. "Main Street is always full, you drive down Main Street and there's no place to park. It was a concern years ago that Main Street was empty, but not no more."

On the other side of the coin, residents are raising concerns about the mine expansion and its effect on the town. Their worries, which Fingas shares, aren't unlike the problems cities face as they deal with rapid growth: Lack of affordable housing, insufficient infrastructure and increased crime rates.

"More people lock their homes now. In this community you never locked your home, you never took your keys out of your vehicle," he said, adding figures from the RCMP show crime rates haven't yet risen.

Still, the Moosomin-based detachment has increased patrols in the Rocanville area, Fingas explained, and awareness programs have been held at the school in an effort to prevent youngsters -- especially girls -- from being lured into any threatening situations.

With PotashCorp planning to hire 270 more workers for the mine when the expansion project ends in 2013, and the average house price in Rocanville jumping from $75,000 to $175,000 since news of the project hit the community two years ago, Fingas said the town is working to attract condominium and apartment developers to the area.

NOTHING WITHOUT POTASH

Out at the mine, Steve Fortney, general manager of PotashCorp's Rocanville operation, said the company will do all it can to prevent trouble in the surrounding areas. The majority of the contract workers are being housed in temporary accommodations located on PotashCorp's Rocanville site, he explained, and a drug-testing policy is in place for contract workers operating on company property. Security guards are also posted to the temporary housing zone.

"There will be a lot of transient people coming into the area. We intentionally picked the camp location to keep it away from the town and we talked to the RCMP and they've added staff to provide better security in the area," Fortney said.

"The camp wasn't built to keep the construction workers from living in the communities, but when we did have to build a camp and you have 900 people, we picked a spot two miles down the road."

The Shaunavon-raised mine manager, who has worked at the Rocanville operation for the past 25 years, says the expansion project at the sprawling site comes with responsibility to both the company and the community.

"We need the town, we need the communities, we rely on them for providing educated, well-trained employees to come in. They provide a lot of services; our employees enjoy a good, comfortable lifestyle in the communities that they live in. A lot of people don't want the rat-race of the city," he said.

Rural Municipality of Rocanville Reeve Murray Reid said the expansion gives the area the opportunity to show it is the most progressive RM in the province. In addition to potash, there's also oil, agriculture, manufacturing and trucking in the area but, in Reid's words, PotashCorp is the biggest employer and biggest ratepayer in the 600-person strong RM.

"Well, we'd be nothing (without potash)," said Reid, who raises livestock in the area. "Look at all the RMs around Saskatchewan, they're boarded up and your kids have to go 50 miles on the school bus every day. If there was no potash mine our kids would be going to school in Moosomin or Langenburg or Esterhazy, or you'd have to go to Moosomin for a quart of milk."

A house on every section of land and an influx of young families to the area would make Reid, a lifelong resident of the RM, a very happy reeve. But that's not to say the present situation doesn't put a smile on his face already.

"Any RM would kill for this . . . there are municipalities that can't even get a council, there aren't enough people left," he said.

As the mid-afternoon lull creates time for Dukart to prepare for the oncoming dinner rush, she says she's taking the busy days as they come. If she needs more staff, she'll hire. If she needs to extend her hours, she will.

"We just kind of watch and adjust as needed," she said.

So will the rest of the town.

ckyle@sp.canwest.com

BY THE NUMBERS

1,000: Rocanville's estimated population

1,200: Number of contract workers expected at PotashCorp's Rocanville mine a year from now

460: Number of contractors already on-site

900: Temporary worker housing spaces available in 2010

450: Temporary worker housing spaces in use today

80: Contract workers currently housed in a second, smaller camp

400: Staff members at PotashCorp Rocanville

$2.8 billion: Cost of the mine expansion

3.04 million: Mine's annual capacity in tonnes

5.7 million: Mine's annual capacity in tonnes post-expansion

3,100: Feet below surface where mining takes place

1,000: Kilometres of underground tunnels at the mine

270: Positions to be filled at the mine post-expansion

$1 million: Dollars a day being spent on the expansion project

POTASHCORP'S OTHER PROJECTS

PotashCorp isn't just working to increase capacity at its Rocanville mine. The company is spending $5 billion to expand and upgrade all of its mines in Saskatchewan to produce an annual total of 18 million tonnes of potash, including tonnage from its New Brunswick operations, by 2014.

The Saskatoon-based company, which spends between $3 million and $4 million a day in Saskatchewan, says all of its expansion projects are on schedule.

Here's a look at the company's other expansion projects:

Mine: Cory

Location: Six kilometres west of Saskatoon

Project: Expanding annual capacity to 3 million tonnes

Budget: $1.1 billion

2009 Spending: $500 million

Contractors: 1,100 on-site, peaked at 1,200 earlier this year

Status: Underway, expected to be complete in 2012

Mine: Allan

Location: 60 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon

Project: Expanding annual capacity to 3 million tonnes

Budget: $550 million

2009 Spending: $80 million

Contractors: 100 currently on-site, peaked at 200 earlier this year

Status: Underway, expected to be complete in 2012

Mine: Lanigan

Location: 100 kilometres east of Saskatoon

Project: Debottlenecking and expansion to increase annual production to 3.8 million tonnes

Budget: $410 million

Status: Completed in 2008

Mine: Patience Lake

Location: 30 kilometres east of Saskatoon

Project: Bringing back 360,000 tonnes of idled capacity

Budget: $111 million

Status: Completed in 2009

© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix

Is this the job of the MP i say No f*** way
Sask. MP Trost launches petition against funding of planned parenthood group
By Jenn Sharp, The StarPhoenixNovember 4, 2009 8:00 AMBe the first to post a comment
A petition calling for a stop to federal funding of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) has been launched by Saskatoon-Humboldt MP Brad Trost.

Trost presented the petition to the House of Commons Monday. IPPF is funded through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and, according to Trost's petition, "promotes the establishment of abortion as an international human right and lobbies aggressively to impose permissive abortion laws on developing nations."

The petition says that the government pledged $18 million to the IPPF over four years and that "the IPPF does not support physician's freedom to practice according to their conscience and/or religious beliefs regarding abortion referral."

According to IPPF's website, the federation promotes sexual and reproductive health rights and provides health services for people in six world regions. Its work is focused in five priority areas: Access to services for marginalized groups, education services for adolescents, advocacy campaigns, HIV-AIDS and abortion services.

Trost, a Conservative, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Evelyn Reisner, executive director of the Sexual Health Centre in Saskatoon (formerly Saskatoon Planned Parenthood), says while its services are not directly funded by the federal government, if government funding is cut off to IPPF, it will have a negative effect on women in Saskatoon.

"Philosophically, this will have a huge impact," she said, adding a "trickle-down effect" would happen quickly.

"It starts in the federal level and moves to the grassroots level where we work with the community directly. That momentum will have a huge impact directly on the work we do in Saskatoon."

Reisner added a strong conservative community in the city often makes it hard for her program to receive support and funding.

© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix