FORTUNE MINERALS PROVIDES SUMMARY OF KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF THE RECENT COBALT INSTITUTE COBALT MARKET REPORT 2021 Transition to Electric Vehicles driving year on year and projected cobalt demand growth
May 19, 2022 Issued Capital: 374,491,544
NEWS RELEASE
FORTUNE MINERALS PROVIDES SUMMARY OF KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF
THE RECENT COBALT INSTITUTE COBALT MARKET REPORT 2021
Transition to Electric Vehicles driving year on year and projected cobalt demand growth
LONDON, ONTARIO, Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQB: FTMDF) (“Fortune” or the
“Company”) (www.fortuneminerals.com) is pleased to provide a summary of the key highlights from the
Cobalt Institute’s (“CI”) Cobalt Market Report 2021 (access report here) released this week. The CI is
a trade organization promoting the sustainable and responsible production and use of cobalt with
member companies comprised of producers, developers, users, traders, and recyclers of cobalt metals
and chemicals. The Cobalt Market Report 2021 confirms cobalt’s essential role in diverse industrial
applications, and particularly as an enabler of the green economy transition and innovation of
rechargeable battery technologies supporting accelerating global electric vehicle (“EV”) sales. Fortune’s
NICO Cobalt-Gold-Bismuth-Copper Project (“NICO Project ”) is a Canadian, vertically integrated,
Critical Minerals development and one of the few cobalt assets in the world that can be developed in
the timeframe needed to meet today’s cathode chemistries in rechargeable batteries used in EV’s,
portable electronics and stationary storage cells.
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Robin Goad, Fortune’s President and CEO, commented, “The transition to a low carbon economy is
picking up as world leaders adopt net zero targets and efforts grow to transform the automotive industry
to electric vehicles. The Cobalt Institute’s Cobalt Market Report 2021 is an independently authored and
comprehensive analysis of the essential role cobalt plays in the growing green economy.”
Cobalt Market Report 2021 Highlights:
- 31,600 metric tonne (“Mt”) (22%) year on year (“y/y”) demand growth to 175,000 Mt
- Estimated market value of US$8.4 billion;
- Projected 12.7% CAGR demand growth to 320,000 Mt by 2026;
- Lithium-ion batteries accounted for 65% of cobalt demand with 85% y/y growth;
- EV’s are now the largest cobalt end use with 34% of market demand;
- Sales of battery electric and plug-in hybrid EV’s totaled 6.7 million units globally, up 102% y/y;
- The percentage of new battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle sales was 26% in
China, 19% in western Europe, and 5% in North America in Q4 2021, indicative of an
accelerating EV adoption rate;
- Nickel- and cobalt-based battery cathodes dominate the EV market (75%) leveraging their
superior energy density, performance and recyclability;
FORTUNE MINERALS LIMITED
617 Wellington Street, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 3R6
Tel. 519-858-8188 ~ Fax. 519-858-8155
- 26% of cobalt demand was in batteries used in mobile phones with 12% y/y growth;
- Drones are the second fastest growing non-EV sector accounting for 5% of cobalt demand
growth from lithium-ion batteries;
- Non battery applications for cobalt chemicals include pigments, catalysts, tires, inks, driers and
food additives, whereas cobalt metals are consumed in cemented carbides, alloys, diamond
tools, and magnets;
- Cobalt mine supply grew to 165,000 Mt, 74% of which (118,000 Mt) was mined in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo;
- Cobalt refinery production continues to be dominated by China with 104,000 Mt (72%) of total
primary refined cobalt;
- Cobalt cathodes were selling at ~US$32/lb at the end of 2021 and the price is currently
~US$40/lb.
NICO Project:
Fortune has expended more than C$137 million to advance the NICO Project from an in-house
discovery to a near-term producer with 20-years of Mineral Reserve containing three Critical Minerals
(cobalt, bismuth and copper) and more than 1.1 million ounces of in-situ gold. The NICO Project is
comprised of a planned mine and mill in Canada’s Northwest Territories (“NWT”) and a related
hydrometallurgical refinery in Alberta to process metal concentrates from the mine to cobalt sulphate,
gold doré, bismuth ingots and oxide, and copper. The Company has received environmental
assessment approval and the Type “A” Water License to construct and operate the mine in the NWT.
The recent completion of the C$200 million Tlicho Highway to the community of Whati is a key enabler
for the NICO Project. This highway, together with the spur road to the mine that Fortune plans to
construct, will allow metal concentrates to be trucked to the railway at Hay River or Enterprise, NWT for
delivery to the Company’s proposed Alberta refinery.
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 has been approved by Robin
Goad, M.Sc., P.Geo., President and Chief Executive Officer of Fortune, who is a "Qualified Person" under National
Instrument 43-101.
About Fortune Minerals:
Fortune is a Canadian mining company focused on developing the NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper
Critical Minerals project in the NWT 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 mill and concentrator.
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For further information please contact:
Fortune Minerals Limited
Troy Nazarewicz
Investor Relations Manager
Tel: (519) 858-8188
www.fortuneminerals.com
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 Company’s ability to raise additional capital, the purchase of the industrial site on which the
Company presently intends to construct the hydrometallurgical refinery for the NICO Project, the repayment or
restructuring of the Company’s current debt, the development of the NICO Project, the potential for expansion of
the NICO Deposit and statements regarding drill results and future drilling and assays. 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 Company’s ability to successfully raise the necessary capital to meet its corporate
objectives in both the near and long term; the successful exercise by the Company its option to purchase the
industrial site on which it intends to construct a NICO Project refinery; the completion of construction of a NICO
Project refinery; the ability to arrange the necessary financing to continue operations and develop the NICO
Project; the support of the federal and/or provincial government for the NICO Project; the receipt of all necessary
regulatory approvals for the construction and operation of the NICO Project and the related hydrometallurgical
refinery 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 Company may not be able to finance and develop the NICO Project on
favourable terms or at all, the 2021 drill program may not result in a meaningful expansion of the NICO Deposit,
the effects of a global market downturn, pressure on commodities prices, and/or the COVID-19 on the Company’s
capital raising efforts, the Company may not be able to complete the purchase of the industrial site located in in
Alberta’s Industrial Heartland northeast of Edmonton and secure a site for the construction of a refinery,
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 refinery, 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 Company’s 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.