FORTUNE BAY COMPLETES GOLDFIELDS PROCESSING TRADE-OFF STUDY AND ADVANCES DEVELOPMENT PLANNING
Goldfields is evaluating whether to process its concentrate into doré bars or continue with the current concentrate route.
Fortune Bay Corp. (FOR) announced that Ausenco Engineering has completed a processing trade-off study for the Goldfields Gold Project. The study compares two production scenarios: on-site doré production versus producing a gold-bearing concentrate for off-site treatment. Concentrate production offers a simpler initial plant, lower upfront capital requirements, lower reagent consumption, and higher capital efficiency. Doré production provides modestly higher gold recovery but requires a more complex on-site plant. Trade-offs for concentrate include transportation costs, off-site treatment fees, and the need to confirm recovery and concentrate quality.
The company is evaluating staged development options, such as a smaller initial plant prioritizing early Box material, with the flexibility to add doré production later. Metallurgical testwork by SGS Canada shows strong gravity response at coarse grind and encouraging flotation performance on gravity tailings. Commercial discussions with potential concentrate buyers are underway, using benchmark assumptions for payability and treatment charges. The existing 2008 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) allows for a 5,000-tonne-per-day mill, which will be assessed for compatibility with the concentrate scenario. No preferred processing route has been selected. The next step is integrating Ausenco findings with SGS results to advance toward a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS).
Fortune Bay Corp. (FOR) released an expected, incremental technical update following its May 2026 announcement that the trade-off study would take approximately eight weeks. The findings do not materially alter the project's fundamental economics or development timeline. While the flexibility to choose a lower-capex concentrate route could slightly improve capital efficiency, it introduces logistics and off-site processing costs that offset some benefits.
The lack of a preferred route selection means the PFS timeline remains unchanged. The company is simply gathering necessary engineering data to de-risk the development path. No new financial commitments, financing events, or regulatory milestones are triggered by this release.
Fortune Bay Corp. is a Canadian exploration and development company focused on gold and uranium assets. Its flagship asset is the 100%-owned Goldfields Gold Project in northern Saskatchewan. An updated Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) released in October 2025 outlines a 14-year mine life with an initial capital cost of $301 million. The project demonstrates strong economics, yielding a $610 million net present value at a gold price of $2,600 per ounce and a 44% internal rate of return. Ninety-seven percent of the resources in the mine plan are classified as Indicated.
The company also holds pipeline projects including the Poma Rosa Project in Chiapas, Mexico, which is subject to a state-level protected area overlap legal challenge, and a uranium portfolio in the Athabasca Basin comprising the Murmac, Strike, and The Woods projects. To maintain regulatory compliance, Fortune Bay is leveraging a valid 2008 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to keep mill throughput under 5,000 tonnes per day, thereby staying within provincial permitting jurisdiction.