Fortune Minerals Retains Worley for Updated Feasibility Study of NICO Project

Fortune Minerals has hired Worley Canada Services to lead additional engineering work and prepare an updated feasibility study for the NICO Cobalt-Gold-Bismuth-Copper Project in Canada. The project includes a mine and concentrator in the Northwest Territories and a hydrometallurgical facility in Alberta. The updated study will assess current project costs, commodity prices, and recent optimizations, while incorporating completed infrastructure such as the Tlicho Highway.

Fortune recently received C$17 million ($12.4 million) in non-dilutive funding from the U.S. Department of Defense, Natural Resources Canada, and Alberta Innovates to support the advancement of the project. These funds will help finance metallurgical testing, feasibility and engineering studies, and permitting for the hydrometallurgical facility, among other activities.

The NICO Project aims to provide a North American supply of cobalt sulfate, gold doré, bismuth ingots, and copper cement, produced under Canadian ESG standards. The project has been in development for years, and an updated feasibility study will incorporate improvements like the use of a brownfield site in Alberta and better transportation logistics.