Fortune Minerals has successfully validated an optimized hydrometallurgical flowsheet for its NICO Project, producing battery-grade cobalt sulphate heptahydrate. The recent test work achieved improved cobalt (97%) and copper (74%) recoveries compared to 2008 pilot plant results.
Fortune Minerals has successfully validated an optimized hydrometallurgical flowsheet for its NICO project, producing battery-grade cobalt sulphate heptahydrate. The test work, conducted at SGS Canada, demonstrated improved cobalt (97%) and copper (74%) recoveries compared to previous pilot plant results.
Fortune Minerals has retained P&E Mining Consultants Inc. to prepare new Mineral Reserve estimates, a mine plan, and a production schedule for an updated Feasibility Study for the NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project. The update is expected to benefit from significantly higher metal prices and a more favourable Canadian dollar compared to the 2014 Feasibility Study.
Fortune Minerals has retained P&E Mining Consultants Inc. to update the Mineral Reserve estimates, mine plan, and production schedule for the NICO Project Feasibility Study. The update aims to capture improved project economics driven by significantly higher metal prices (gold, cobalt, bismuth, and copper) and a more favourable CAD/USD exchange rate compared to the 2014 study.
Fortune Minerals is updating its NICO Project Feasibility Study, assessing four development scenarios including a vertically integrated refinery in southern Canada. Key updates include a 30% increase in mill throughput to 6,000 tpd and metallurgical process improvements designed to reduce refinery capital costs by up to $200 million.
Fortune Minerals has successfully validated that gold can be recovered from cobalt and bismuth flotation concentrates at the NICO project site. This metallurgical milestone enables a lower capital cost start-up option by allowing the company to sell concentrates without significant loss of gold revenue.
Fortune Minerals has entered an option agreement to acquire an alternative site for its proposed hydrometallurgical refinery following a zoning rejection in Saskatchewan. The company is also updating its NICO project technical report to include a lower-capital scenario of selling concentrates directly to defer refinery construction.
Fortune Minerals announced successful metallurgical test work by Dundee Sustainable Technologies (DST) to produce upgraded, arsenic-free cobalt concentrates from the NICO Project. The process successfully removed 99% of arsenic, increasing metal grades by 20-30% through mass reduction, and offers a potentially lower-CAPEX development route compared to a full refinery.
