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Fortune Minerals Announces 3rd Party Process Residue Disposal Option for Its NICO Project Refinery
LONDON, Ontario / Feb 09, 2021 / Business Wire / Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQB: FTMDF) (“Fortune” or the “Company”) (www.fortuneminerals.com) is ple
About this update from Fortune Minerals Limited
[{"type":"text","content":"LONDON, Ontario / Feb 09, 2021 / Business Wire / Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQB: FTMDF) (“Fortune” or the “Company”) (www.fortuneminerals.com) is pleased to announce that it has received indicative terms from a large waste disposal and environmental services company to dispose of the process residue from the planned refinery for the NICO Cobalt-Gold-Bismuth-Copper Project (“NICO Project”). This waste disposal company operates a number of facilities in western Canada and provided its quote after reviewing the chemistry and environmental characteristics of the process residue produced in Fortune’s earlier pilot plant. The ability to dispose of the residue in an existing permitted facility provides Fortune with flexible options to finalize the preferred site for its planed refinery and reduces the amount of land that would need to be acquired as well as the capital costs for the refinery. This contracted disposal solution would also reduce permitting times, technical risks during operations, and eliminates long-term legacy issues associated with a Company-owned facility. The NICO Project is a Canadian, advanced vertically integrated development that is planned to produce cobalt sulphate, gold doré, bismuth ingot and oxide, and copper as a minor by-product. Both cobalt and bismuth are identified on the United States (“U.S.”) and European (“E.U.”) Critical Minerals Lists, being minerals needed for defense and new technologies, cannot be easily substituted, and have supply chain risks from geographic concentration of production and/or geopolitical issues. Cobalt sulphate is needed to manufacture the cathodes of most lithium-ion rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles, portable electronics and stationary storage cells. Fastmarkets (formerly, Metal Bulletin) reports that cobalt prices are up about 30% over the past two months with cathodes trading above US$20 per pound. There is also a significant premium being paid for cobalt contained in sulphate, which represents a price of approximately US$25 per pound of cobalt. The NICO Project stands out among other cobalt developments with 12% of global bismuth reserves, and 1.1 million ounces of gold contained in the Mineral Reserves, the latter providing a countercyclical and highly liquid co-product. The NICO Project is comprised of a planned open pit and underground mine ...