Fortune Bay (FOR) - Uranium Asset Purchase for Gold Explorer

Fortune Bay is a gold-focused exploration and development company with 100% ownership in 2 high-quality advanced gold projects, namely the Goldfields Project in Saskatchewan, Canada, and the Ixhuatán Project in Mexico, featuring exploration and development potential. The company has a goal of building a mid-tier gold exploration and development company through the advancement of its existing project and the strategic acquisition of new projects to create a pipeline of growth opportunities. 

Matt Gordon caught up with Dale Verran, CEO, Fortune Bay. Dale has over 2 decades of international experience in the mining and mineral exploration industry. A recognized business and technical leader, Dale has a proven track record of project generation, discovery, and project advancement in Africa and Canada. He previously served as the Vice President, Exploration at Denison Miners Corp., Executive Technical Director at Remote Exploration Services Pty Ltd, and as an Exploration Manager for Manica Minerals Ltd. His educational credentials include a B.Sc. degree in Geology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, a B.Sc. degree in Geology (Honors) from the University of Cape Town, and an M.Sc degree in Exploration Geology from Rhodes University. He is also a registered P.Geo (APEGS) and Professional Natural Scientist (SACNASP). 

Company Overview

Fortune Bay is an exploration and development company based out of Canada. The company is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX-V: FOR) and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FRA: 5QN). The company's flagship asset is the Goldfields Project located in Saskatchewan. The company also has a gold asset in Mexico called the Ixhután project along with a recently acquired uranium asset near the Goldfields Project. 

The Ixhután Project

The Ixhután Project is a 100% owned project spread across a land area of 4,176 hectares, located southwest of the Santa Fe mine in Mexico. This project has a historical indicated resource of 1Moz and 700,000oz inferred. 

Fortune Bay has received interest from multiple entities for partnerships at the Ixhután project. This asset offers a strong exploration potential as it's set in a remote and unique geological setting along with significant exploration potential. 

A New Uranium Project

Fortune Bay recently acquired a uranium project near the Goldfields site that features Athabasca and conformity-related basement hosted deposits. This uranium project is situated near Canada's original uranium mining districts. The company is advancing this asset concurrently with its gold projects. 

This uranium deposit offers a unique opportunity for the company as it is situated on the shore of Lake Athabasca, right where the Athabasca basin sandstone ends. This 10,000 hectares area features graphitic rocks with a strike length close to 12km with known mineralization. 

The company has developed an operational hub in Uranium city. As this project is located close to the Goldfields asset, exploration is significantly easier. Fortune Bay acquired this asset for a low staking fee of $10,000. This asset features historical data with operations carried out by Cameco between 2005-2008. These data sets provide the company an initial basis for drill targeting. 

The past work carried out by Cameco features airborne surveys, ground surveys with geophysics, and EM (electromagnetic) surveys that demonstrate elevated radio activity in the basement rocks. The Tenor zone was historically mined over 100t with grades ranging between 1.5%-3%. These grades are typically found in basement-hosted deposits. 

The historical work at the site featured minimal drilling operations with 7 holes across a 10,000-hectare property, where only 3 holes were mined. This offers a unique opportunity for Fortune Bay to carry out ground gravity and magnetic-based surveys. The company seeks to advance this project quickly into the drilling stage and eventually develop a mine. 

Fortune Bay has verified the historical uranium occurrence at the site and has confirmed the attributes around the mineralization present in the Tenor Zone. This deposit features a basement-hosted unconformular style of mineralization. This indicates the potential for higher grade and widespread deposits within the Athabasca Basin. 

This uranium asset is a planned land-based operation and the company has been successful in building early relationships with the local community and the First Nations representatives as a part of its exploration consulting. The company is currently focused on implementing engagement consultation with the local community while simultaneously working on acquiring government permits for exploration and physical magnetic surveys. 

Past Uranium Experience

The company has team members with past experience in uranium mining. Fortune Bay's CEO previously worked on high-grade basement hosted deposits at Denison Mines called Gryphon and Huskie. The company's senior geologist has previously worked with Cameco's projects. Lastly, Fortune Bay's technical director worked as a consultant for Fission Uranium on its Triple R project for exploration drill planning and resource work. 

The Goldfields Project

The Goldfields Project is located 13km from Uranium City in Saskatchewan, Canada. This wholly-owned asset has an indicated mineral resource of 1Moz gold, and 200,000oz inferred resource with exploration development and upside. 

Fortune Bay recently published a press release highlighting the presence of gold over decent intervals. The company concluded the planned 5,000m drilling for phase 1 of the operation and is currently awaiting assays from its final 4 holes at the Box deposit. The company has also announced the expansion of its Athona deposit along with the 3 initial holes at the Box deposit. 

Phase 1 of the program consisted of 5,000m drilling at the Athona Deposit. The company found multiple holes with over 1g/t grades ranging from 10m-35m. These step-out holes indicate a defined resource for the planned expansion. 

Fortune Bay also demonstrated the presence of higher grades in these structures and vein sets, featuring a sample of 17g/t and 2 samples of 8g/t over 1m. As the company continues to expand this deposit, it is discovering higher grades on a consistent basis. 

The Box deposit encompasses 85% of the total Goldfields resource and offers tremendous expansion potential. The company recently released assays from 3 out of the 7 holes. These 3 holes feature a significant expansion down dip, 200m from the mineral resource, and 100m across the strike length of the deposit. 

The Box deposit is wide open at depth with grades of 1.5g/t over a 30m-40m thickness in the first 2 holes and 2g/t over 21m in the 3rd hole. The company also found 8g/t over 12m and 8g/t over 4m grades within the structures, while the veins returned a varied grade ranging between 10g/t-89g/t. 

Fortune Bay has altered its drilling approach at the Box deposit as the drill is being targeted to intersect the structures at higher angles. The company is also collecting oriented core data which allows the measurement of the vein and structure orientation, leading to a higher grade deposit. One of the deeper holes at the Box deposit featured mineralized at the end and was located 450m from a historical hole that intersected 4g/t over 3m. 

The company continues to look for gold properties along the project. It recently carried out sampling to verify grades which resulted in 2g/t-5g/t grades on the surface. It is currently mapping the data collected from these areas and working towards the reinterpretation of the geophysical data. This data will be utilized to devise a new model that will tie in with the company's regional exploration plans, leading to new discoveries. 

Phase 2 of the drilling program is planned for 2022 post a capital raise. This will be followed by a PEA (Preliminary Economic Assessment) or a PFS (Pre Feasibility Study). 

Cash Position

Fortune Bay has a cash flow of $1.7M along with a current market cap of $25M. In the past year, it has drilled multiple assays and is focused on regional exploration. The company's liquidity enables them to continue operating through the end of 2021. It plans to raise additional capital in late-fall next year for planned field activities. The company has plans for a small capital raise at a higher share price to avoid over-dilution for the shareholders.

To find out more, go to the Fortune Bay Website