The Company is advancing the NICO Project
toward a construction decision with U.S. & Canadian Government
financial support from critical minerals supply chain security
programs
Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQB: FTMDF)
(“Fortune” or the “Company”)
(www.fortuneminerals.com) is pleased to provide an update of
ongoing work on the vertically integrated NICO
cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper critical minerals project in Canada
(“NICO Project”). The NICO Project is comprised of a planned
mine and concentrator in the Northwest Territories (“NWT”)
and a hydrometallurgical processing facility in Lamont County,
Alberta where concentrates from the mine, and other feed sources,
will be processed to value-added products needed for the energy
transition, new technologies and defense. Fortune has been awarded
~C$17 million of non-dilutive contribution funding from the U.S.
Department of Defense (“DoD”), Natural Resources Canada
(“NRCan”), and Alberta Innovates to help finance the work
needed to bring the NICO Project to a project finance and
construction decision (see news releases dated, December 5, 2023,
and May 16, 2024). Development of the NICO Project would provide a
reliable North American supply of cobalt sulphate, gold doré,
bismuth ingots, and copper precipitate enhancing domestic supply
chains for three metals identified on the Canadian and U.S.
Government critical minerals lists and a highly liquid and
countercyclical gold co-product to mitigate metal price
volatility.
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Highlights
- U.S. & Canadian Government supported test work,
engineering, updated Feasibility Study & permitting programs
progressing
- New comminution & flotation circuit designs to reduce
capital & operating costs
- Concentrator modifications to improve gold, bismuth &
cobalt recoveries
- Smaller hydrometallurgical bismuth circuit with lower
capital costs & higher recoveries
- Successful leaching & cementation of blended Rio Tinto
& Fortune bismuth streams
Feasibility Study Update
Fortune retained Worley Canada Services Ltd. (“Worley”)
to lead the engineering for an updated Feasibility Study assessing
the economics of the NICO Project at current costs and commodity
prices. Worley is also assisting Fortune with permitting for the
brownfield site in Lamont County, Alberta where the Company plans
to construct its hydrometallurgical facility. The NICO Project was
previously assessed in a positive Feasibility Study by Micon
International Limited (“Micon”) in 2014 but is now out of
date. Micon, P&E Mining Consultants Inc. (“P&E”) and
WSP Golder, who participated in the 2014 study, are also engaged to
assist Worley with preparation of the updated study and NI 43-101
Technical Report. The Feasibility Study is being supported with
funding from the U.S. DoD and NRCan’s Global Partnerships
Initiative (“GPI”) contribution funding.
The updated Feasibility Study will incorporate a number of
improvements to the NICO Project identified by Fortune and Worley
to deliver a more financially robust development. These include:
the superior brownfield Alberta hydrometallurgical facility site
with existing buildings; the new Tlicho Highway to Whati, NWT; a
new geological block model with more constrained ore zone
boundaries to reduce modelling dilution and better differentiate
high-grade resource blocks for earlier processing; a new mine plan
and production schedule with a stockpiling strategy to accelerate
the processing of higher margin ores and reduce near-surface waste
rock stripping; better equipment choices; and process optimizations
from recent test work.
Worley has completed value enhancement studies improving the
grinding and comminution, and flotation circuits for the planned
concentrator in the NWT. A High-Pressure Grinding Rolls
(“HPGR”) and vertical mills will replace parts of the
previously designed circuit and ball mill with an anticipated ~C$7
million reduction in capital costs and ~C$1.3 million reduction in
annual operating costs from a smaller plant footprint utilizing
more energy efficient equipment. HPGR variability tests are in
progress at SGS Canada Inc. (“SGS”) in Lakefield, Ontario to
provide additional data for the detailed design.
Worley has also reviewed the Company’s historical flotation test
work and piloting information and has identified opportunities
using Jameson flotation cells to recover additional fine, 5- to
20-micron sized gold and bismuth particles contained in NICO
deposit ores. Jameson cell tests were completed at SGS at a finer
(minus 44-micron) grind size and the Company is pleased to report
that these tests have confirmed an improvement in gold, bismuth and
cobalt recoveries for the concentrator. A carbon column is also
being designed into the secondary flotation circuit to capture the
~5% of contained gold that previously would have been dissolved and
lost in the process water during bismuth and cobalt separation.
Fortune is also investigating other options to reduce potential
gold losses during the processing of high-grade, gold-rich
ores.
Worley has also completed a minor realignment of the NICO access
road design to reduce construction costs and has also completed the
process flow diagrams, piping and instrumentation diagrams, and
mass balance for the NWT concentrator. As part of the ongoing
Feasibility Study improvements, Worley is also working on updated
concentrator and hydrometallurgical facility designs to advance the
vertically integrated development.
Test Work Update
Fortune collected between 15 and 16 metric tonnes of ores from
its earlier test mining stockpiles at the NICO mine site and
shipped this material to SGS for metallurgical test work and
piloting. The test work is being financially supported with
contribution funding from NRCan’s GPI and a $715,000 award in 2023
from the Critical Minerals Research Development and Demonstration
(“CMRDD”), with additional financial support coming from
Alberta Innovates’ Clean Resources Continuous Intake Program and
the U.S. DoD. Phase 2 of the program, consisting of crushing,
grinding and bulk and secondary flotation was successfully
completed in Q3, 2024, producing gold-bearing cobalt and bismuth
concentrates for hydrometallurgical testing.
The Phase 3 hydrometallurgical work is in progress and the
results achieved to date are exceeding the Company’s expectations.
Ferric chloride leaching of bismuth concentrate followed by
cementation and purification test work achieved 97% bismuth
recoveries, producing a cement grading up to 95% bismuth, and
averaging about 0.2% iron as the main impurity. The data was used
to support the bismuth circuit process design criteria on the basis
of a 66% reduction of the leaching residence time, from three hours
to one hour. Overall, the design criteria are predictive of a
significant material reduction in the size, capital and operating
costs for the bismuth circuit for the hydrometallurgical plant. The
results are also predictive of about a 2% higher bismuth recovery
than initially estimated for the bismuth leaching and cementation
circuits. Fortune has retained XPS Industry Relevant Solutions to
conduct the smelting and refining parts of the bismuth test work
and complete the design of the bismuth pyrometallurgical
circuit.
A preliminary pressure oxidation (“POX”) test on the
cobalt concentrate was recently completed, but more comprehensive
cobalt processing tests will be carried out in the first quarter of
2025. The cobalt test work will also include a value enhancement
optimization of sequential gypsum precipitation to validate the
production of a gypsum by-product from the autoclave effluent. If
successful, a saleable gypsum by-product would provide a material
improvement to the hydrometallurgical facility overall revenues and
reduce waste disposal costs for the process residue.
Rio Tinto Process Collaboration
Fortune has a process collaboration agreement with Rio Tinto
investigating the feasibility of recovering additional cobalt and
bismuth at the Alberta hydrometallurgical facility by processing
precipitates produced from Kennecott smelter wastes in Utah. Rio
Tinto successfully generated a high-grade bismuth oxychloride
intermediate from its Utah process streams and shipped samples of
this material to SGS for testing using Fortune’s process criteria
as well as blending with NICO bismuth concentrates. Leaching and
cementation tests carried out on the Rio Tinto material blended
with NICO bismuth concentrate were very successful, validating no
material change in bismuth recoveries or metallurgical performance
relative to treating unblended NICO bismuth concentrate. The
feasibility of processing Rio Tinto material at the Alberta
Hydrometallurgical facility has therefore been confirmed and
additional work is planned by both companies to advance the
collaboration. These blending validation studies are financially
supported by NRCan’s GPI contribution funding and the U.S. DoD.
About the NICO Project
Fortune has expended approximately C$140 million to advance the
NICO Project from an in-house mineral discovery to a near
construction-ready development. The Company has secured the
environmental assessment approval and the major mine permits for
the facilities in the NWT and the municipal planning approvals for
the Alberta hydrometallurgical facility. Additional permitting is
required at both sites and is in progress with partial funding
support from the U.S. DoD.
The NICO deposit and planned mine is situated in Tlicho
Territory, approximately 160 km northwest of the City of
Yellowknife and 50 km north of the community of Whati where the new
Tlicho Highway currently terminates. A spur road from Whati is
planned as part of the development to enable trucking concentrates
to the railhead at Enterprise, NWT for delivery to Alberta and
downstream processing.
The NICO deposit contains open pit and underground Proven and
Probable Mineral Reserves totaling 33.1 million tonnes containing
1.11 million ounces of gold, 82.3 million pounds of cobalt, 102.1
million pounds of bismuth, and 27.2 million pounds of copper to
support a ~20-year mine life. Fortune also owns the Sue-Dianne
satellite copper deposit located 25 km north of the NICO deposit
and is a potential future source of incremental mill feed for the
Company’s planned concentrator. NICO and Sue-Dianne are iron oxide
copper-gold (“IOCG”)-type mineral deposits with world class
global analogues that support the exploration potential of the area
and Fortune’s properties.
Ores from the NICO deposit will be mined primarily by open pit
methods with a low waste to ore strip ratio. Portions of the
higher-grade Mineral Reserves would be mined by underground open
stoping methods to accelerate cash flows during early years of the
mine life using the existing ramp and underground workings for
access and ore haulage.
NICO ores will be processed in a concentrator constructed at the
mine site with a 4,650 metric tonnes per day mill throughput rate
and a low (4%) mass pull during bulk flotation that captures the
recoverable metals in only 180 tonnes of bulk concentrate per day.
A very efficient secondary flotation process separates the ore
minerals into gold-bearing cobalt and bismuth concentrates for
low-cost transportation by truck and rail to Alberta.
The hydrometallurgical facility is planned to be constructed in
Lamont County in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland, approximately 50
km northeast of Edmonton. Cobalt concentrate will be processed by
POX in an autoclave to dissolve the contained metals, followed by
sequential neutralization, copper cementation, and solvent
extraction purification and crystallization of cobalt sulphate
heptahydrate. The bismuth concentrate will be processed by ferric
chloride leaching, followed by cementation, and smelting to 99.995%
bismuth ingots. Gold will be recovered by leaching the combined
autoclave residue, followed by carbon elution and smelting to doré
bars.
Development of the NICO Project would provide a reliable,
vertically integrated domestic supply of cobalt, gold, bismuth and
copper with supply chain transparency and custody control of the
metals from ores through to the production of value-added products.
Fortune’s cobalt production is targeting the lithium-ion
rechargeable battery industry for use in electric vehicles,
portable electronics and stationary energy storage cells. The NICO
deposit contains 12% of global bismuth reserves and the ingots
produced by Fortune will be marketed for automotive glass and steel
coatings, low melting temperature and dimensionally stable alloys,
and an environmentally safe and non-toxic replacement for lead in
brass, solder, steel, aluminum and galvanizing alloys, paint,
radiation shielding, ceramic glazes, ammunition and fishing
weights. New applications also include environmentally safe plugs
to properly seal decommissioned oil and gas wells, magnets for EV
powertrains, and alloys used in the nuclear and defense industries.
Notably, gold, bismuth and copper prices have all been increasing
and compensate for the short-term weakness in the cobalt price.
For more detailed information about the NICO Mineral Reserves
and certain technical information in this news release, please
refer to the Technical Report on the NICO Project, entitled
"Technical Report on the Feasibility Study for the
NICO-Gold-Cobalt-Bismuth-Copper Project, Northwest Territories,
Canada", dated April 2, 2014 and prepared by Micon International
Limited which has been filed on SEDAR and is available under the
Company's profile at www.sedar.com.
The disclosure of scientific and technical information contained
in this news release have been approved by Robin Goad, M.Sc.,
P.Geo., President and Chief Executive Officer of Fortune and Alex
Mezei, M.Sc., P.Eng. Fortune’s Chief Metallurgist, who are
"Qualified Persons" under National Instrument 43-101.
About Fortune Minerals
Fortune is a Canadian mining company focused on developing the
NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project in the Northwest
Territories and Alberta. Fortune also owns the satellite Sue-Dianne
copper-silver-gold deposit located 25 km north of the NICO deposit
and is a potential future source of incremental mill feed to extend
the life of the NICO concentrator.
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This press release contains forward-looking information and
forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable
securities legislation. This forward-looking information includes
statements with respect to, among other things, the exercise of the
option by the Company and the purchase of the JFSL site, the
construction of the proposed Hydrometallurgical Facility at the
JFSL site, the potential for expansion of the NICO Deposit and the
Company’s plans to develop the NICO Project. Forward-looking
information is based on the opinions and estimates of management as
well as certain assumptions at the date the information is given
(including, in respect of the forward-looking information contained
in this press release, assumptions regarding: the successful
completion of the Company’s due diligence investigations on the
JFSL site, the Company’s ability to secure the necessary financing
to fund the exercise of the option and complete the purchase of the
JFSL site, the Company’s ability to complete construction of a NICO
Project Hydrometallurgical Facility; the Company’s ability to
arrange the necessary financing to continue operations and develop
the NICO Project; the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals
for the construction and operation of the NICO Project and the
related Hydrometallurgical Facility and the timing thereof; growth
in the demand for cobalt; the time required to construct the NICO
Project; and the economic environment in which the Company will
operate in the future, including the price of gold, cobalt and
other by-product metals, anticipated costs and the volumes of
metals to be produced at the NICO Project). However, such
forward-looking information 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 risks that
the 2021 drill program may not result in a meaningful expansion of
the NICO Deposit, the Company may not be able to complete the
purchase of the JFSL site and secure a site for the construction of
a Hydrometallurgical Facility, the Company may not be able to
finance and develop NICO on favourable terms or at all,
uncertainties with respect to the receipt or timing of required
permits, approvals and agreements for the development of the NICO
Project, including the related Hydrometallurgical Facility, the
construction of the NICO Project may take longer than anticipated,
the Company may not be able to secure offtake agreements for the
metals to be produced at the NICO Project, the Sue-Dianne Property
may not be developed to the point where it can provide mill feed to
the NICO Project, the inherent risks involved in the exploration
and development of mineral properties and in the mining industry in
general, the market for products that use cobalt or bismuth may not
grow to the extent anticipated, the future supply of cobalt and
bismuth may not be as limited as anticipated, the risk of decreases
in the market prices of cobalt, bismuth and other metals to be
produced by the NICO Project, discrepancies between actual and
estimated Mineral Resources or between actual and estimated
metallurgical recoveries, uncertainties associated with estimating
Mineral Resources and Reserves and the risk that even if such
Mineral Resources prove accurate the risk that such Mineral
Resources may not be converted into Mineral Reserves once economic
conditions are applied, the Company’s production of cobalt, bismuth
and other metals may be less than anticipated and other operational
and development risks, market risks and regulatory risks. 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.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250108515555/en/
Fortune Minerals Limited Troy Nazarewicz Investor
Relations Manager info@fortuneminerals.com Tel: (519) 858-8188
www.fortuneminerals.com
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