Government of Canada funding for additional
engineering and test work to build on and complement activities
being supported by the U.S. Department of Defense
Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQB: FTMDF)
(“Fortune” or the “Company”)
(www.fortuneminerals.com) is pleased to announce that it has
secured additional funding from the Government of Canada to help
advance the Company’s 100%-owned, vertically integrated NICO
cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper Critical Minerals asset in Canada
(“NICO Project”). The Government of Canada has agreed to
provide contribution funding for up to C$7.5 million to support 75%
of the costs for additional engineering and test work, totalling
approximately C$10 million through the Global Partnerships
Initiative (“GPI”). Natural Resources Canada
(“NRCan”) is the funding department for the GPI and Fortune
will provide additional due-diligence information and complete a
Contribution Agreement over the next few weeks. The objectives of
the work being funded by NRCan are to build on and complement the
programs being supported by the U.S. Department of Defense
(“DoD”) through the Company’s Defense Production Act
(“DPA”) Title III award for US$6,380,555 (~C$8.74 million)
(see the news releases also dated May 16, 2024). The total amount
of non-dilutive funding that Fortune expects to receive from the
U.S. and Canadian governments is approximately C$16.2 million. This
important cross-border initiative is aligned with the Canada – U.S.
Joint Action Plan on Critical Minerals Collaboration to strengthen
North American production of the metals needed in essential
industries and new technologies to support the energy transition
and the growing green economy.
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The NICO Project is an advanced development stage Critical
Minerals asset comprised of a planned open pit and underground mine
and concentrator in the Northwest Territories (“NWT”) and a
related hydrometallurgical refinery in Alberta (the “Alberta
Refinery”). The Alberta Refinery would process concentrates
from the NICO mine and other materials to produce cobalt sulphate,
gold doré, bismuth ingots and copper. The previously announced
collaboration between Fortune and Rio Tinto is assessing the
feasibility of blending intermediate products produced from
Kennecott smelter wastes in Utah with NICO Project process streams
to augment cobalt and bismuth production (see news release, dated
April 8, 2023). Development of the NICO Project would provide a
vertically integrated domestic supply of three Critical Minerals
and gold, produced with North American supply chain transparency,
reliability, and Environmental Social Governance (“ESG”)
standards, and compliance with the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act
(“IRA”) to mitigate supply chain risks.
The GPI will support, enhance and promote Canada’s international
leadership in Critical Minerals, in collaboration with
international partners. The NRCan funding contribution would be
used to address three NICO Project tasks:
1) An expanded test work program to assess
feed source variability and blending of Rio Tinto sourced
intermediate materials with NICO Project process streams;
2) A Feasibility Study sensitivity analysis
of the engineering and economic impacts of blending Rio Tinto feed
sources into the planned Alberta Refinery;
3) A Front-End Engineering and Design
(“FEED”) Study for the NICO Project, providing more detailed
engineering to build on the DoD funded updated Feasibility Study
and enable equipment procurement and greater cost certainty.
“Today’s investment in Fortune Minerals Limited will help
advance supply chain resilience and create job opportunities in
Canada – all part of our work to build a prosperous and sustainable
Canadian economy that benefits everyone. We will continue to work
with allies and industry to ensure the development of secure
resources for a prosperous net-zero future.” The Honourable
Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources.
Robin Goad, President and CEO of Fortune Minerals Limited
commented, “the demand for Critical Minerals needed for the energy
transition requires new vertically integrated domestic production
from non-traditional ores and concentrates. Bi-lateral Canadian and
U.S. government investment is therefore important to align mineral
production with changes in new technologies, ensure security of
supply, and support North American industrial competitiveness.”
Fortune’s goal is to deliver vertically integrated production
facilities to become a reliable producer of cobalt for the rapidly
expanding North American lithium-ion rechargeable battery industry.
As a domestic source, NICO Project cobalt would be compliant with
the terms of the IRA and help qualify U.S. customers of North
American built electric vehicles for tax credits supporting the
transition to e-mobility. With 12% of global bismuth reserves, the
NICO Project would provide a domestic alternative for products used
in the automotive and pharmaceutical industries. It would provide a
non-toxic and environmentally safe replacement for lead to
eliminate toxicity in the alloys used for potable drinking water
sources, free-machining steels and aluminum, radiation shielding,
and ammunition as well as bismuth compounds used in glass, ceramic
glazes, paints, and cosmetics. Bismuth consumption is also growing
in environmentally safe plugs to properly seal decommissioned oil
and gas wells and prevent greenhouse gas leakage as well as
manganese-bismuth magnets for use in electric vehicle powertrain
motors. The NICO deposit also contains more than one million ounces
of gold as a highly liquid and countercyclical co-product to
mitigate Critical Mineral price volatility, plus minor copper, and
a potential gypsum by-product to reduce process residue disposal
costs.
The NICO Project is a development stage Critical Minerals asset
that Fortune has already expended more than C$137 million to
advance from an in-house mineral discovery to a near shovel-ready
project with a positive Feasibility Study in 2014 (that will be
updated in 2024), and environmental assessment approval and the
major mine permits for the facilities in the NWT.
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 and Alex Mezei, P.Eng. Consulting
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 Critical Minerals project in the
Northwest Territories 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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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 use of the
Government of Canada and DOD funds, advancement of the NICO Project
towards a project finance decision, including the successful
construction and completion of the Company’s proposed
hydrometallurgical refinery and the successful development and
construction of the planned NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper mine
and concentrator NICO Project becoming a reliable source of cobalt,
sulphate, gold, bismuth and copper, NICO Project providing a source
of battery materials that would be compliant with IRA and allow tax
credits, and NICO Project’s projected average annual production of
cobalt, gold, bismuth and copper. 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 actual receipt of
funds from the Government of Canada and DOD, the Company’s ability
to complete construction of NICO Project mine, concentrator, the
hydrometallurgical refinery and advance the NICO Project; the
Company’s ability to arrange the necessary financing beyond the
Government of Canada and DOD funding to continue operations and
develop the NICO Project; the receipt of all necessary regulatory
approvals for the construction and operation of the NICO Project,
including the planned NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper mine and
concentrator and hydrometallurgical refinery and the timing
thereof; growth in the demand for cobalt; the time required to
construct the NICO Project; the relevant laws and regulations in
Canada and the U.S.; 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
global geopolitical situations may interfere with the Company’s
ability to continue development of the NICO Project, the Company
may not be able to finance and develop NICO on favourable terms or
at all, relevant regulatory changes, 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 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.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240515662532/en/
Fortune Minerals Limited Troy Nazarewicz Investor
Relations Manager info@fortuneminerals.com Tel: (519) 858-8188
www.fortuneminerals.com
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