Fortune Minerals (TSX: FT) will receive a $714,500 investment from the Canadian government to produce cobalt sulphate and bismuth ingots from the company’s planned NICO mine in the Northwest Territories and refinery in Alberta.
Canada’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, announced on Tuesday the investment aims to help Canada participate directly in the growing market of battery-grade cobalt and other concentrates instead of shipping concentrates overseas for value-added processing.
“Today’s investment will help to advance the development of dynamic and competitive critical minerals value chains through an innovative new processing technology,” Wilkinson said in a statement.
The advanced-stage critical minerals asset, discovered by Fortune in 1996, is to be developed as an open pit and underground mine and concentrator in the Northwest Territories and a hydrometallurgical refinery in Alberta.
The project receives funding from the Critical Minerals Research, Development and Demonstration (CMRDD) program, which seeks to improve new mineral processing methods and technologies. These advancements aim to help develop supply chains for zero-emission vehicles in Canada by supplying materials needed for batteries and permanent magnets via a vertically integrated supply chain.
The funding follows up to $714,500 committed to Fortune in December under the CMRDD program, and the Alberta government also conditionally approved funding contributions of up to $172,670 toward the budgeted program costs.
Natural Resources Canada announced a pilot program to improve processing techniques and ensure safe disposal of waste. The project will also create jobs, including for Indigenous communities, and introduce sustainable technology to other Canadian companies.
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