Fortune Bay (TSXV: FOR; US-OTC: FTBYF) has quietly built a pipeline of gold and uranium assets, waiting for the next commodities upswing. An updated preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for its Goldfields project in Saskatchewan due this year and plans to resume exploration at Poma Rosa in Mexico signal the junior is emerging from the shadows.
“The company’s been very much under the radar for a long time patiently waiting for the next cycle to begin,” Dale Verran, CEO of Fortune Bay, said. “Through that process, we’ve been very disciplined about the capital structure – we didn’t do any big raises, we went out and did some low-cost acquisitions on the uranium side.”
Fortune Bay’s core gold assets were spun out of Primero Mining in 2014. In April, the junior raised $3 million (US$2.16 million) through a non-brokered private placement to advance its gold projects. “Now we feel it’s time to execute,” Verran said.
Gold has surged over the past two years, climbing more than 30% year-over-year to around $3,340 an oz., as investors and central banks flock to the metal amid inflation concerns and global uncertainty. The rally underscores renewed appetite for high-quality gold projects while uranium is also enjoying recent gains on wider demand for nuclear power, like in India, and output constraints in Kazakhstan and Niger.
For Fortune Bay, it’s an opportune moment to advance projects in Saskatchewan and Mexico.
Goldfields
Fortune Bay’s primary Goldfields project lies 13 km south of Uranium City in northern Saskatchewan, an historic mining district with road and hydro access, nearby fuel, contractors and a commercial airport. “It’s a rare shovel-ready asset with a permit in hand,” Verran said.
The permit was supported by a feasibility study conducted in 2008.
“There’s so much data and most of the resources already indicated,” Verran said. “Moving that from PEA to PFS can be done relatively quickly, the key is to shorten that permitting timeframe so that they can keep in step and get to a construction decision as soon as possible.”
Goldfields hosts 23.2 million tonnes grading 1.31 grams gold per tonne for 979,900 oz. indicated, with 7.1 million tonnes at 0.92 grams gold per tonne for 210,800 oz. inferred. A 2022 PEA outlined average annual production of 101,000 oz. over 8.3 years, with 122,000 oz. annually in the first four years at cash costs of US$778 per ounce. Over 80% of the mineable ounces come from the Box deposit.
An updated PEA is due this year, reflecting mine optimization, design updates and higher gold prices. Baseline studies and permitting are underway, with community consultation also planned. Drilling at Frontier Lake, Golden Pond and Triangle will test resource growth potential.
“This is really a project that can be developed into a mine in the near term,” Verran said.
Poma Rosa
Fortune Bay is moving forward with community consultation for its Poma Rosa gold-copper project in Chiapas, Mexico, aiming to restart fieldwork in late 2025.
“We have been talking to the key communities and they’re very supportive,” Verran said. “But you can’t rush these processes.”
The company remains on track to formalize exploration agreements later this year. Chiapas state, bordering Guatemala, isn’t a well-known mining province, but it is rated one of the safest states in Mexico.
“The state government is very pro-investment and they’ve taken proactive steps to improve the economy since the governor was elected in December,” Verran said. “They’re very supportive of the project.”
The Poma Rosa (formerly Ixhuatán) project was originally held by Linear Gold and Kinross Gold (TSX: K, NYSE: KGC), which outlined the historical Campamento resource and contributed to exploration before the company’s assets were spun out into Fortune Bay. “Our predecessor worked very well with the community.”
Based on Linear Gold’s 2006 drilling program, the Campamento deposit hosts a resource of 17.6 million tonnes grading 1.84 grams gold per tonne for 1.04 million oz. in the measured and indicated category, plus 21.8 million tonnes grading 1.01 gram for 703,000 oz. inferred.
At the nearby Cerro La Mina prospect, Fortune Bay is preparing a maiden copper-gold resource. The company said no new drilling will be required and it plans to update both deposits to NI 43-101 standards once community agreements are finalized.
The Poma Rosa project shares key characteristics with some of the world’s largest porphyry systems, including Freeport-McMoRan’s (NYSE: FCX) Grasberg in Indonesia and Rio Tinto’s (ASX, LSE, NYSE: RIO) Bingham Canyon in the United States. Porphyry deposits are vast, mineral-rich systems where gold and copper are spread throughout the rock rather than concentrated in veins.
“It’s widely recognized as an exceptional geological setting,” Verran said. “You don’t get many of these globally.”
Uranium potential
Fortune Bay is also developing seven low-cost uranium plays along the northern rim of Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin, a world-class district that has seen little modern drilling. The projects are optioned, but Fortune’s team remains as operator, benefiting from its proven uranium discovery track record.
“We saw the cycle coming…we entered our uranium projects back in 2020, just before the real boom and rush in the Athabasca Basin got started,” Verran said. “Our intention is to build value out of these assets through that steep part of the curve, and then exit through project sales or other types of agreements.”
Two projects – Strike and Murmac – are optioned to Aero Energy (TSX: AEX), while the remaining five, known as the Woods Projects, are under option to private Australian company Neu Horizon Uranium. An airborne electromagnetic, magnetic and radiometric survey is underway over the Woods Projects, while a three-hole drill program at the Murmac Project is set to start in September.
The surveys target high-grade mineralization along the Grease River Shear Zone, a prospective corridor analogous to uranium miner NexGen Energy’s (TSX, NYSE: NXE; ASX: NXG) Arrow deposit.
Follow-up fieldwork will verify historical occurrences, map anomalies and prioritize drill targets. In August, the company announced it had secured three-year drill permits from the province.
“Work is ongoing, it’s partner-funded, it doesn’t cost us anything, but also generates some revenues for us through management fees and option fees,” Verran said. “Those projects retain discovery upside for our shareholders.”
Growth trajectory
With gold projects advancing and uranium exploration underway, Fortune Bay is building momentum.
“We’re obviously bullish on gold and bullish on uranium, but going forward, our broader business model could apply to any commodity,” Verran said.
The junior’s footprint is concentrated in Saskatchewan and Mexico, but Verran noted it’s not tied to any one jurisdiction.
“It’s really where the right geological opportunity arises and where we can align our capital for best deployment,” he said.
Another vital aspect of Fortune Bay’s approach is its technical team. Verran is an exploration geologist and mining executive with over 25 years’ international experience, including project generation, discovery, and advancement in Africa and Canada. He was vice president of exploration at Denison Mines (TSX: DML; NYSE: DNN), helping discover over 31,000 tonnes of uranium.
Fortune’s executive chairman, Wade Dawe, built several resource companies, including Keeper Resources which was sold for $51.6 million in 2008, and Brigus Gold, which was acquired by Primero Mining (TSX: P) in 2014 in an all-share deal valued at $351 million.
Fortune Bay also appointed Robert Shaw as a key technical advisor in 2021.
“He’s a very well-known North American geologist and was involved with the discovery of 40 million oz. of gold for Anglo-American (LSE: AAL),” Verran said. “We’ve got a key team that’s built for execution on our model through this particular phase of unlocking value on our gold assets.”
With its disciplined approach, key assets, capital structure and gold on the rise, Verran said Fortune Bay has a promising year ahead.
“On an ounce-per-ounce basis, we’re undervalued relative to our peers,” he said. “We’re executing on our strategy now and that will continue to be the plan going forward – we are in it for the long-term and to build real value.”
The preceding Joint Venture Article is PROMOTED CONTENT sponsored by Fortune Bay and produced in co-operation with The Northern Miner. Visit: https://fortunebaycorp.com for more information.
