Fortune Minerals Provides NICO Feasibility Study Update

Fortune Minerals Limited (FT) is nearing completion of the updated Feasibility Study for its NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project, with engineering for the base case development scenario essentially finished. Worley Canada Services Ltd. is leading the study team, incorporating optimizations aimed at reducing capital and operating costs.

A new process circuit is being designed to recover additional gold from bulk cleaner scavenger tailings, with test work showing 77% to 85% recovery using carbon-in-leach technology. Management is also evaluating a lower-cost start-up option to produce cobalt mixed hydroxide precipitate (CoMHP) instead of cobalt sulphate heptahydrate, a move that would reduce initial capital and operating expenditures.

P&E Mining Consultants has prepared updated Mineral Reserve estimates based on current metal prices, costs, and a more constrained geological block model. Final reserves and the production schedule will be announced upon study completion. Meanwhile, public meetings were held in Lamont and Bruderheim, Alberta, regarding the planned hydrometallurgical facility. Collaboration with Rio Tinto on bismuth sourcing from Kennecott smelter wastes continues.

Fortune Minerals Limited (FT) confirmed that the NICO project is progressing on schedule toward its targeted 2027 Final Investment Decision (FID). The company reported metallurgical improvements that enhance gold recovery and offer a phased capital approach through the CoMHP start-up option, addressing previous development concerns. Additionally, updated mineral reserves will provide the definitive economic model required for project financing and construction planning. These engineering and metallurgical refinements de-risk the project's technical profile as an expected incremental step in the pre-production development phase, without altering the fundamental timeline, capital stack, or strategic direction.

Fortune Minerals Limited (FT) is a Canadian critical minerals company focused on the NICO project in the Northwest Territories. The company’s flagship asset is the NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project, which is vertically integrated. This integration features an open-pit and underground mine and concentrator located in the Northwest Territories, alongside a dedicated hydrometallurgical refinery in Lamont County, Alberta.

The project is currently in the pre-production development stage. Environmental assessment is complete, and major mine permits have been secured. The updated Feasibility Study is in its final stages. Fortune Minerals has outlined a targeted timeline that includes a two-year construction period for the mine and concentrator, concurrent with an 18-month construction period for the Alberta refinery. The company is targeting a Final Investment Decision in 2027.

Target products from the operation include battery-grade cobalt sulphate, gold doré bars, bismuth ingots or oxide, and copper cement. Fortune Minerals owns 100% of the project.