Fortune Minerals Receives US$6.38 Million Grant from U.S. Department of Defense

Fortune Minerals Limited has been awarded a US$6.38 million (~C$8.74 million) grant from the United States Department of Defense under the Defense Production Act Title III program. This funding aims to expand domestic cobalt production for battery and high-strength alloy supply chains, enabling Fortune to advance the NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project in Canada toward construction.

The NICO Project is an advanced development stage asset, featuring a planned open-pit and underground mine and concentrator in the Northwest Territories and a hydrometallurgical refinery in Alberta. Once operational, the project will supply cobalt sulphate for the lithium-ion battery industry, along with gold, bismuth, and copper as co-products.

The grant will fund work in four key areas to advance the NICO Project:

• Metallurgical tests to optimize hydrometallurgical processes at the Alberta refinery.
• Securing remaining authorizations and preparing management plans for the mine and concentrator.
• Obtaining permits for constructing and operating the refinery.
• Completing an updated Feasibility Study assessing the project's economics with the new refinery site and other optimizations.

The NICO Project aims to become a reliable North American producer of cobalt, bismuth, and copper, with over one million ounces of gold as a co-product. The project is expected to produce 1,800 metric tonnes of cobalt (~8,780 tonnes of cobalt sulphate), 47,000 Troy ounces of gold, 1,700 tonnes of bismuth, and 300 tonnes of copper annually. The metallurgical test work program will also explore producing clean gypsum as a by-product for local industries, reducing waste disposal costs.

Fortune is collaborating with Rio Tinto to assess processing intermediate products from the Kennecott smelter in Utah at the Alberta refinery, potentially increasing cobalt and bismuth production. This initiative aligns with the U.S.-Canada Collaboration on Critical Minerals Supply, with Fortune identifying additional material sources to augment production.

Cobalt is critical for lithium-ion batteries and high-strength alloys, essential for the energy transition and aerospace industry. The current supply is heavily concentrated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and China, presenting risks and environmental-social governance concerns. The NICO Project will help reduce reliance on these sources, strengthening the North American supply chain for critical metals.

Robin Goad, President and CEO of Fortune Minerals, expressed gratitude for the DoD's support, highlighting the difficulty in attracting investment for critical minerals projects in traditional capital markets. The funding will accelerate the NICO Project's development, providing domestic capacity and supply security.

Fortune has invested over C$137 million in advancing the NICO Project, which has received environmental assessment approval and major mine permits. The project contains 12% of global bismuth reserves, essential for various environmental applications and the automotive industry.