Concentrate production option offers potential for lower initial capital and staged development
HALIFAX, NS, Oct. 20, 2026 /CNW/ -- Fortune Bay Corp. (TSXV: FOR) (FWB: 5QN) (OTCQB: FTBYF) ("Fortune Bay" or the "Company") is pleased to announce completion of a processing trade-off study prepared by Ausenco Engineering ULC ("Ausenco") for its 100%-owned Goldfields Gold Project ("Goldfields" or the "Project") in northern Saskatchewan.
The processing trade-off study compared the on-site gold doré production case outlined in the Company's 2025 Updated Preliminary Economic Assessment ("2025 PEA") with an alternative producing a gold-bearing concentrate for sale and treatment off site. The concentrate production opportunity was identified in the 2025 PEA and subsequent news releases. The concentrate production option offers distinct advantages, including opportunities to simplify the initial plant, reduce upfront capital requirements and support staged development, with the option to add on-site doré production facilities later.
"Concentrate production presents a compelling development option for Goldfields, and Ausenco's completed assessment provides a clear basis for its further evaluation," commented Dale Verran, Chief Executive Officer. "A simpler initial plant could offer a lower-capital development option while preserving flexibility to add on-site doré production later. With gold trading currently at approximately US$4,100 per ounce, compared with the PEA's US$2,600 base-case assumption, it is timely to evaluate the processing and mine-scheduling trade-offs before selecting our preferred approach. We plan to combine Ausenco's findings with recent metallurgical results, additional testwork using Box samples already collected, and environmental, infrastructure and commercial assessments as we advance toward pre-feasibility."
Goldfields Processing Study and Development Planning
Trade-Off Study Findings: The completed processing trade-off study evaluated the technical and economic trade-offs between producing a gold-bearing concentrate for sale and treatment off site, and the on-site gold doré production approach outlined in the Company's 2025 Updated Preliminary Economic Assessment ("2025 PEA"). The study included capital and operating cost estimates and comparative economic analysis using the 2025 PEA financial model, incorporating assumptions specific to each processing option, including metallurgical recovery, concentrate payability and transportation costs. The processing trade-off study provides a useful benchmark for the relative merits of the two processing approaches and a basis for further optimization as the Company advances toward a Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS").
Ausenco's assessment indicates that the doré route provides modestly higher gold recovery, while concentrate production offers a simpler on-site plant, lower initial capital requirements, lower reagent consumption and higher capital efficiency. The concentrate production alternative therefore warrants further evaluation, particularly as part of a staged development strategy, with these potential benefits weighed against concentrate transportation and off-site treatment costs and the need to confirm recovery, concentrate quality and commercial terms through further work.
Staged Development Options: The Company sees scope to further optimize the concentrate production approach beyond the configuration assessed in the processing trade-off study. Potential areas of work include a smaller or staged initial plant, mine scheduling that prioritizes early Box material, contract-mining alternatives, phased tailings infrastructure and further metallurgical optimization, including the role of gravity recovery ahead of flotation. This work will assess whether Goldfields can be advanced through a lower-capital first stage while preserving the option to expand throughput or add on-site doré production later, if justified by project economics and permitting.
The existing environmental approval for development of the Box deposit, based on the 2008 Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS"), provides for an open-pit mine and a 5,000-tonne-per-day mill, including use of the historical Vic Lake tailings storage facility ("TSF"). Fortune Bay plans to evaluate Ausenco's findings and recommendations to assess whether the concentrate production scenario could be accommodated within the scope of this approval. Compatibility with the approval, and any need for amendments or additional approvals, remain subject to regulatory confirmation.
Metallurgical Results and Planned Testwork: The processing trade-off study was based on earlier SGS Canada Inc. metallurgical testing of bulk composite samples from Box and Athona. Separately, Fortune Bay completed a more recent SGS test program on a Box master composite that evaluated gravity recovery followed by flotation of the gravity tailings. That work demonstrated strong gravity response at a relatively coarse grind and encouraging flotation performance on the remaining material, supporting further evaluation of a combined gravity-plus-flotation flowsheet. The more recent work is not yet a finalized design basis and requires additional representative and variability testing before engineering parameters can be established.
Fortune Bay plans to integrate the Ausenco trade-off findings with the more recent SGS results in the next phase of metallurgical and engineering work. This is expected to include representative Box-focused samples, gravity-recoverable-gold characterization, optimization of primary and secondary grind requirements, flotation and cleaning conditions, locked-cycle testing, concentrate dewatering and product characterization. The objective is to determine the simplest practical flowsheet that preserves recovery while reducing capital intensity, power demand, reagent use and execution complexity. Box samples have already been collected from available drill core.
Concentrate Marketing and Next Steps: An established Canadian and international market exists for gold-bearing concentrates, and Fortune Bay has held discussions with potential buyers regarding the Goldfields concentrate production scenario. The processing trade-off study used benchmark assumptions for concentrate payability and treatment charges, together with transportation estimates based on Company-provided information and historical project data. Building on its buyer discussions, the Company plans to assess product specifications, potential offtake and prepayment arrangements, treatment terms and logistics alternatives in parallel with technical optimization. Commercial feedback will therefore be used not only to validate concentrate marketability, but also to help shape the preferred product specification and development configuration. Any future sales arrangements would depend on confirmation of product suitability and agreement on commercial terms.
Together, the metallurgical, engineering, environmental, commercial, logistical and mine-planning work will inform selection of a preferred staged development route and the scope of the next phase toward PFS. The Company's objective is to preserve optionality while progressively defining a lower-risk path to initial production. A preferred processing route has not yet been selected, and the current studies do not establish economic viability or support a production decision.
Goldfields Environmental Baseline Studies Update
Fortune Bay continues to advance additional environmental baseline studies at Goldfields, including wildlife monitoring using remote cameras and autonomous acoustic recording units deployed since August 2025. The approximately 14-month monitoring period spans all four seasons, providing information on wildlife occurrence and seasonal activity across the study area in representative ecosites.
Retrieval of the units is planned for October 2026, after which Omnia Ecological Services will analyze the additional data and update terrestrial baseline reports. These ongoing studies support project planning and future environmental approvals and will inform the design of additional species detection baseline surveys as needed.
Technical Disclosure
The Goldfields processing trade-off study draws on historical metallurgical testing completed by SGS Canada Inc. and does not incorporate the Company's more recent gravity-plus-flotation test program as a final engineering design basis. Additional testing of representative material from Box and Athona is required to confirm processing performance, gravity recoverability, concentrate quality, tailings characteristics and the preferred grind and flotation conditions. The processing trade-off study and more recent SGS work are preliminary and do not establish economic viability or support a production decision. A preferred processing route has not been selected. The existing doré development scenario is described in "Goldfields Project Updated NI 43-101 Technical Report & Preliminary Economic Assessment, Saskatchewan, Canada," dated October 20, 2025, available through SEDAR+ and the Company's website.
Qualified Person
The technical and scientific information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Gareth Garlick P.Geo., Vice-President Technical Services of the Company, who is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Garlick is an employee of Fortune Bay and is not independent of the Company under NI 43‑101.
About Fortune Bay
Fortune Bay Corp. (TSXV:FOR; FWB:5QN; OTCQB:FTBYF) is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company with assets in Canada and Mexico. The Company's primary focus is advancing the Goldfields Gold Project in Saskatchewan, Canada. Fortune Bay also holds the Poma Rosa Gold-Copper Project in Chiapas, Mexico, as well as an optioned uranium project portfolio in the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan. Fortune Bay continues to evaluate and advance its portfolio in a disciplined manner while maintaining a strong technical foundation and prudent capital management.
On behalf of Fortune Bay Corp.
"Dale Verran"
Chief Executive Officer
902-334-1919
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions, and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. Words such as "expects", "aims", "anticipates", "targets", "goals", "projects", "intends", "plans", "believes", "seeks", "estimates", "continues", "may", variations of such words, and similar expressions and references to future periods, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, and include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the results of the Updated PEA, including future Project opportunities, future operating and capital costs, closure costs, AISC, the projected NPV, IRR, timelines, permit timelines, and the ability to obtain the requisite permits, economics and associated returns of the Project, the technical viability of the Project, the market and future price of and demand for gold, the environmental impact of the Project, and the ongoing ability to work cooperatively with stakeholders, including Indigenous Nations, local Municipalities and local levels of government. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on information currently available to the Company, the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward- looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, the Company's objectives, goals or future plans, statements, exploration results, potential mineralization, the estimation of mineral resources, exploration and mine development plans, timing of the commencement of operations and estimates of market conditions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to failure to identify mineral resources, failure to convert estimated mineral resources to reserves, the inability to complete a feasibility study which recommends a production decision, the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals, political risks, inability to fulfill the duty to accommodate Indigenous Nations and local Municipalities, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, changes in equity markets, inflation, changes in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in the development of projects, capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates and the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, and those risks set out in the Company's public documents filed on SEDAR. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. For more information on Fortune Bay, readers should refer to Fortune Bay's website at www.fortunebaycorp.com.
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SOURCE Fortune Bay Corp.
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