Fortune Minerals announces additions to management team

Head Office moving to larger premises - Two regional offices opened

Issued Capital: 117,076,976

LONDON, ON, March 29, 2012 /CNW/ - Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX-FT) ("Fortune" or the "Company") (www.fortuneminerals.com) announces the appointment of two new members to its project development and engineering teams and additional administration personnel. Carl Kottmeier, a mining engineer with 24 years of project management, engineering and operations experience has joined Fortune as Mount Klappan Project Manager and is based at the Company's new Vancouver, British Columbia ("BC") regional office.  Seok (Joon) Kim, a mining engineer with 10 years of international operations, design engineering and tunneling experience will be based in London, Ontario as the company's Mine Planning Engineer to support engineering and development for both the NICO Gold-Cobalt-Bismuth-Copper Project in the Northwest Territories ("NT") and Saskatchewan, and the Mount Klappan Anthracite Metallurgical Coal Project in BC.

Tom Rinaldi, Fortune's Vice President of Operations commented that, "Increasing the depth and capacity of our operations team enhances our ability to deliver timely milestones on our way to becoming a reliable North American producer of metallurgical coal, gold and specialty metals.  We are pleased to welcome Carl and Joon to the Fortune Minerals team."

Carl Kottmeier, B.A.Sc., M.B.A., P.Eng., has more than two decades of experience in the mining industry in Canada, including roles in underground and open pit operations, engineering, contracting and in  the mine services sector.  Carl is an expert in underground and open pit blast design and has significant knowledge of BC mining regulations and First Nations engagement. He has previously worked for Teck Resources, North American Construction Group, Orica Canada and Cassiar Mining Corporation.  Carl is a graduate of the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in 1989 in Mining and Mineral Process Engineering, and with a Masters of Business Administration degree in 2003. Carl's significant management and operations experience in western Canada makes him ideally suited to lead the engineering, permitting and railway extension for the Company's Mount Klappan metallurgical coal project in northwest BC.

Joon Kim, M.A.Sc., P.Eng., has more than a decade of experience in the mining industry in Canada and in geotechnical engineering and tunneling for civil projects in South Korea.  Joon has been employed in Vale's Sudbury nickel-copper mining operations for the past five years, working primarily in underground operations and drill and blast design. He also has held positions at MIRARCO-Mining Innovation, Kiheung Corporation Limited, Sambo Engineering Corporation Limited and with the Engineer Group of the Republic of Korea Army.  Joon is a graduate of Inha University in South Korea with a Bachelor of Mining Engineering degree in 1997 and Master of Mining Engineering degree in 1999.  Additionally, he graduated from Queens University with a Master of Applied Science in Mining Engineering in 2010. His design engineering and operations experience, along with his fluency in both Korean and English, will benefit Fortune's projects and its joint venture relationship on the Mount Klappan coal project with POSCO Canada Ltd., a subsidiary of South Korea's POSCO - one of the world's largest steel producers.

Fortune is also pleased to report that Jennifer Kraemer, an accomplished 16 year employee, has accepted an expanded role with the Company as Employee Relations Coordinator to provide critical support to the Human Resources Department. To fill Jennifer's former position, we welcome Carrie Bloomfield as Executive Assistant. Carrie has more than 10 years of experience in the financial services industry that will also benefit the Company's investor relations efforts. We also welcome Yi (Ivy) Zhang, M.Sc., who recently graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a Master of Science degree in Financial Modeling, and has joined Fortune as its Financial Modeler and Analyst.

Fortune announces that effective April 2, 2012; the Company's Head Office will be relocating to larger premises within the same office complex in order to accommodate the growth in our staff.  Our phone and fax numbers will remain the same, but the new address will be:

148 Fullarton Street, Suite 1600
London, Ontario
N6A 5P3

In addition, Fortune has opened two regional offices in Vancouver and Yellowknife in order to provide greater access to the services and regulators in the jurisdictions we are principally operating in. The addresses for our regional offices are as follows:

Yellowknife Regional Office:
Centre 50 Mini Mall Building
5006 - 50 Ave, Unit 205
Yellowknife, NT
X1A 3X8
Tel.: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Vancouver Regional Office:
World Trade Centre
999 Canada Place, Suite 404
Vancouver, BC
V6C 3E2
Tel.: [phone]

About Fortune Minerals Limited:

Fortune is a diversified resource company with several mineral deposits and a number of exploration projects, all located in Canada.  The Company is focused on the development of the Mount Klappan anthracite metallurgical coal deposits in BC and the NICO gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper deposit in the NT.  As part of the development of the NICO deposit, Fortune is developing a hydrometallurgical plant in Saskatchewan to process NICO concentrates to high value metal products. The Company has also acquired the buildings and equipment from the Golden Giant Mine at Hemlo, Ontario, which have been dismantled, moved, and stored for relocation to NICO. In addition, the Company owns the Sue-Dianne copper-silver-gold deposit and other exploration projects in the NT.  Fortune 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 statements with respect to, among other things, proposed production of metallurgical coal, gold and specialty metals, the proposed development of the NICO project and the proposed purchase and development of the site for the Saskatchewan metals processing plant ("SMPP"). 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 inherent volatility of metal prices, the risk that the Company may not be able to arrange the necessary financing to construct and operate the Mount Klappan coal project, the NICO mine or the SMPP, uncertainties with respect to the receipt or timing of required permits for the development of the Mount Klappan coal project, the NICO project or the SMPP, the possibility of delays in the commencement of production from the Mount Klappan coal project, the NICO project or construction of the SMPP and other factors. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information because it is possible that predictions, forecasts, projections and other forms of forward-looking information will not be achieved by the Company.  The forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date hereof and the Company assumes no responsibility to update or revise it to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.

Fortune Minerals Limited
Robin Goad, President, or
Troy Nazarewicz
Investor Relations Manager
[email protected]
Tel.: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
www.fortuneminerals.com

Renmark Financial Communications
Barbara Komorowski: [email protected], or
Bettina Filippone: [email protected]
Montreal Tel: [phone], Toronto Tel. [phone]
Montreal Fax: [phone], Toronto Fax. [phone]
www.renmarkfinancial.com