Fortune Minerals Reports Additional Cobalt, Gold & Copper Process Optimization Validation for the NICO Project Additional critical mineral process improvements for the Alberta Hydrometallurgical Facility
Fortune Minerals Reports Additional Cobalt, Gold & Copper Process
Optimization Validation for the NICO Project
Additional critical mineral process improvements for the Alberta Hydrometallurgical Facility
LONDON, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 22, 2025--Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX:
FT) (OTCQB: FTMDF) (“Fortune” or the “Company”) (www.fortuneminerals.com) is
pleased to report additional process optimization test work validation for the NICO cobalt-gold-
bismuth-copper critical minerals project in Canada (“NICO Project”). The test work was
completed at SGS Canada Inc. (“SGS”) in Lakefield, Ontario and proved additional
enhancements to the cobalt, gold and copper circuits and recoveries for the planned Alberta
Hydrometallurgical Facility, expanding on the improvements already announced for the mill,
concentrator and bismuth circuits (see January 8 and May 9, 2025, news releases). The Process
Design Criteria have been compiled and delivered to Worley Canada Services Ltd. (“Worley”)
for engineering evaluation and incorporation into the Company’s updated Feasibility Study in
progress.
The NICO Project consists of a planned mine and concentrator in the Northwest Territories
(“NWT”) and a hydrometallurgical process facility in Lamont County, Alberta where
concentrates from the mine, and other feed sources, will be processed to value-added products
for the energy transition, new technologies, and defence industries. Development of the NICO
Project will provide a reliable North American vertically integrated supply of cobalt sulphate,
gold doré, bismuth ingots, and copper cement, thereby enhancing the domestic production of
three critical minerals, plus 1.1 million ounces of in-situ gold as a countercyclical co-product to
mitigate metal price volatility.
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New Process Improvement Highlights
2008 Autoclave pressure oxidation pilot conditions confirmed
Cobalt recoveries from the autoclave improved at the design feed grade
Downstream process steps eliminated or improved to reduce capital and operating
costs
Gold recoveries from the combined autoclave leach residue improved
Additional gold recovery from cleaner scavenger flotation tails proven
TCLP tests validate the safe disposal of a stable process residue
Test Work Results
The Alberta Hydrometallurgical Facility will process a bulk concentrate produced at the NICO
mine and concentrator in the NWT, and other feed sources that the Company has identified.
Concentrate from the NWT will be repulped, reground to minus 14 microns, and floated into
separate gold-bearing cobalt and bismuth concentrates. The cobalt concentrate will be blended
with the leach residue from the bismuth circuit after bismuth has been recovered in order to
capture the contained gold in one process stream. The blend will then be fed into an autoclave
with oxygen for processing by Pressure Oxidation (“POX”) to dissolve the contained cobalt and
copper in an autothermic reaction that also contributes acid. Recent test work successfully
confirmed the 2008 pilot-validated POX conditions at the design feed grade and for a low cobalt
grade feed variability condition. Extractions were 97% for cobalt and 74% for copper at the
design feed grade vs. 95% for cobalt in the 2008 pilot plant. Extractions using an off-
specification low-grade cobalt feed confirmed the previous 95% cobalt recovery and 79% for
copper.
Liquid / Solid separation of the autoclave POX discharge was proven to be unnecessary,
allowing for streamlining of the previous 2008 flowsheet and significantly lower the capital and
operating costs. The entire autoclave discharge slurry will now be subjected to non-oxidative
pre-neutralization and will no longer require the addition of oxygen or heating, and the residence
time has been reduced to 0.5 hours as compared to the 5 hours with heat, oxygen and a hydrogen
peroxide finish in the 2008 pilot. This simplified pre-neutralization process also effectively
removed 99% of the arsenic contaminant without any cobalt losses from co-precipitation or
entrapment and eliminated the need for a re-leach step that was also part of the previous 2008
flow sheet. Similar results were achieved using limestone or lime as the neutralization reagent,
allowing for process design and cost flexibility.
Gold recoveries from the combined autoclave leach residue using the more direct process
optimization were also higher, ranging between 97% and 98% compared to 95% recoveries using
the 2008 pilot demonstrated targets.
Further study of the gold deportation during flotation for the NWT concentrator also identified
losses to the cleaner scavenger tails when processing higher gold content ores. These tails can be
selectively stockpiled at the mine site for subsequent processing at the Alberta
Hydrometallurgical Facility. Leaching tests carried out at SGS verified that about 83% of the
gold contained in these tails can be recovered using the same process conditions and equipment
that will be installed to recover the bulk of the gold contained in the autoclave leach residue.
However, inclusion of this gold stream would reduce the combined gold recovery from 98% to
95% - the same recovery indicated in the 2008 pilot.
Pre-neutralized autoclave Pregnant Leach Solution (“PLS”) that was separated from the gold
plant feed residue was subjected to copper cementation tests and confirmed that a polishing step
will no longer be required. Secondary neutralization of the copper cementation process indicated
complete removal of iron and arsenic from the discharge regardless of using air or oxygen and
will not require heating as a further improvement.
Selective precipitation of a gypsum by-product could not be achieved with arsenic concentrations
below 30 parts per million (“ppm”), exceeding the upper limits for the products Fortune had
identified for potential sale. Production of a gypsum by-product has therefore been deferred until
the Company identifies an alternative market for this material.
Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (“TCLP”) and Acid Base Accounting (“ABA”)
abatement tests were carried out on the gold leach discharge residues generated from the
autoclave and the cleaner scavenger tails, both individually, and when they were combined. Tests
confirm they are not leachate toxic and can be deposited in a government approved Class 2
landfill.
Fortune expects to complete its optimization validation test work next month after verifying the
cobalt PLS manganese removal, Solvent-Extraction (“S-X”) purification step, and evaporation
and crystallization conditions for a high purity cobalt sulphate heptahydrate product for the
lithium-ion rechargeable battery industry.
”We are very pleased with the results of the process optimization test work, which continues to
exceed the Company’s expectations and support higher metal recoveries and a potential material
reduction in the capital and operating cost for the Company’s planned Alberta
Hydrometallurgical Facility,” stated Robin Goad. Fortune’s President and CEO.
Government Support
Fortune is working closely with the Government of Canada, the Government of Alberta and the
Government of the United States to expand North American critical minerals production and
enhance domestic supply chain resilience and security. The Company has been awarded ~C$17
million of non-dilutive contribution funding from the U.S. Department of Defense through its
Defense Production Act Title III program, Natural Resources Canada’s Global Partnerships
Initiative and Critical Minerals Research Development and Demonstration programs, and
Alberta Innovates Clean Resource Intake program. These funds are helping Fortune complete
metallurgical improvements, updated Feasibility and Front-End Engineering and Design
(“FEED”) studies, and secure the remaining permits needed to finance, construct and operate the
NICO Project (see news releases dated, May 16, 2024, and December 5, 2023).
China has effectively cornered the supply for many critical minerals through a decades-long
policy of proactive strategic investment in mines and mid- and down-stream processing, financed
with low-cost loans from its sovereign banks. Western democratic governments have now
recognized the risks associated with critical mineral supply disruptions from this dominance and
are investing in domestic production and collaboration among countries with fair trade practices.
At the recent G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, world leaders agreed on strategies to strengthen
critical minerals supply. " Non-market policies and practices in the critical minerals sector
threaten our ability to acquire many critical minerals ", the draft statement said. " Recognizing
this threat to our economies, as well as various other risks to the resilience of our critical
minerals supply chains, we will work together and with partners beyond the G7 to swiftly protect
our economic and national security."
Following the summit, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney also commented, “We will create
a critical minerals production alliance, a G7-led strategic initiative to stockpile and develop
critical minerals needed for defence and technology”. The G7 agreed to work together to
anticipate critical minerals shortages, coordinate responses to deliberate market disruption, and
diversify mining, processing, manufacturing, and recycling. Further to this commitment to shore
up critical mineral supplies, Carney said Canada can in part meet its potential annual $150 billion
NATO spending obligation with investment in extracting, processing and exporting Canada’s
critical minerals to allies that will count towards the 5% of GDP target.
About Fortune’s Metals
The Minerals Reserves for the NICO Project contain four payable metals, including cobalt, gold,
bismuth and copper. The Alberta Hydrometallurgical Facility will be a mid-stream process plant
to produce value-added products with supply chain transparency and custody control of the
contained metals.
Fortune’s cobalt production is targeting the rapidly expanding lithium-ion rechargeable battery
industry needed to power electric vehicles, portable electronics and stationary storage cells.
Cobalt is also used in aerospace superalloys, permanent magnets, cutting tools, cemented
carbides, catalysts and pigments. The annual cobalt market is ~245,000 metric tonnes and is
anticipated to grow to ~350,000 metric tonnes by 2030. The Democratic Republic of the Congo
produces ~78% of global cobalt mine production, more than 60% of which is controlled by
Chinese companies, which also control ~83% of refinery production and ~93% of the production
of cobalt chemicals.
Bismuth’s unique physical and chemical properties are difficult to substitute with other metals,
and the NICO Project is the largest known deposit in the world with 12% of global reserves.
Bismuth is used in automotive glass and steel coatings, paints and pigments, and brake pads. It is
also used to make low melting temperature and dimensionally stable alloys and compounds, fire
suppressant systems, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Bismuth consumption is increasing as an
environmentally safe and non-toxic replacement for lead in brass, solder, free machining steel
and aluminum, galvanizing alloys, glass, ceramic glazes, and ammunition. Bismuth-tin alloy is
used to make environmentally safe plugs to properly seal decommissioned oil and gas wells.
Bismuth is also used in high performance semiconductors, solders for artificial intelligence data
centers, and supercomputers. Manganese-bismuth magnets are resistant to demagnetization from
heat. In the nuclear industry, bismuth is used for radiation shielding, coolants in some reactor
designs, and it is a collector for plutonium in fuel re-processing and enrichment. China controls
~80% of current bismuth mine production and ~90% of refinery supply in an annual market of
~23,000 metric tonnes growing at ~7.5% CAGR.
About the NICO Project
Fortune has expended approximately C$145 million to advance the NICO Project from an in-
house mineral discovery to a near construction-ready development asset with environmental
assessment approval and the major mine permits already secured in the NWT. NICO and the
Company’s nearby Sue-Dianne copper deposit are IOCG-type mineral deposits with multiple
payable metals, reducing the Company’s vulnerability to price volatility or market manipulation.
The Open Pit and Underground Mineral Reserves for the NICO deposit contain 33.1 million
metric tonnes of ore containing 1.1 million ounces of gold, 82.3 million pounds of cobalt, 102.1
million pounds of bismuth, and 27.2 million pounds of copper. Development of the NICO
Project would provide vertically integrated domestic production of three critical minerals to help
diversify the current sources of supply from foreign entities of concern with a highly liquid and
countercyclical gold co-product. The NICO Project will have average annual production during
the first 14 years of the 20-year mine life of 1,800 metric tonnes of cobalt contained in 8,780
tonnes of cobalt sulphate, 47,000 troy ounces of gold in doré bars, 1,700 metric tonnes of
bismuth in high purity ingots, and 300 tonnes of copper in a cement product.
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 NWT and Alberta. Fortune also owns the Sue-Dianne copper-silver-gold
satellite deposit located 25 km north of the NICO deposit and 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 construction of the proposed mine and
concentrator in the NWT and the hydrometallurgical process facility in Alberta, 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 updated feasibility study, the Company’s ability to secure the necessary financing
to fund the working capital required for the government funded work, the Company’s ability to
complete construction of a NICO Project hydrometallurgical process facility; the Company’s
ability to secure other feed sources for the hydrometallurgical process 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 process facility and the timing thereof; growth in the
demand for cobalt and bismuth; 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, bismuth 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 complete the metallurgical test work to validate
process improvements, update the Feasibility and FEED studies and secure the remaining
permits and authorizations needed to construct and operate the mine, concentrator in the NWT
and hydrometallurgical facility in Alberta, the Company may not achieve material reductions in
the cobalt and gold circuit sizes, the Company may not achieve the anticipated reductions in
capital and operating costs, the Company may not be able to economically discharge residues in
a Class 2 landfill, 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 process 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.
Contacts
Fortune Minerals Limited
Troy Nazarewicz
Investor Relations Manager
Tel: (519) 858-8188
www.fortuneminerals.com