en.Wedoany.com Reported - Fortune Minerals (TSX: FT; OTC: FTMDF) and the Tłı̨chǫ Government may receive up to C$50 million (US$35.25 million) from the Canadian federal government to connect the long-delayed Nico project in the Northwest Territories to a highway.
The "Last Mile Fund" from Natural Resources Canada will reimburse three-quarters of the eligible costs for a road crossing Tłı̨chǫ private land. The route will link Fortune Minerals' planned cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper mine to a territorial road near Whatì, about 50 km south of the deposit. The Nico project is located approximately 160 km northwest of Yellowknife.
"The Northwest Territories has a rich geological endowment with the potential to develop almost any mineral commodity, but also faces a severe infrastructure deficit that raises the bar for economic viability," said Robin Goad, President of Fortune Minerals, in a press release. "This funding helps level the playing field."
The grant converts one of the Nico project's largest near-term gaps into a funded construction project. Fortune Minerals aims to complete a feasibility study update next month, front-end engineering design early next year, and a possible construction decision once financing is secured. It also signals that Ottawa is shifting its critical minerals policy toward the mining infrastructure investments needed to develop northern deposits.
The road funding follows a permitting milestone in May, when the Wek’èezhìı Land and Water Board approved the land use permit and water license required to build and operate the access road. Fortune Minerals expects to renew its remaining land and water permits in the Northwest Territories within months, while its Alberta refinery permits are expected early next year.
The Tłı̨chǫ Government will receive an additional C$200,000 from the federal fund for community engagement and traditional knowledge studies related to the road. Fortune Minerals and the Tłı̨chǫ Government also plan to study the future possibility of extending the road north to Gamètì for year-round access.
Fortune Minerals discovered the deposit in 1996 and says it has spent over C$150 million advancing the project to a construction decision. The company plans to mine and beneficiate ore at Nico, then truck concentrates about 400 km south to Enterprise, Northwest Territories, for rail loading. The concentrates would then travel about 1,000 km by rail to the company's planned hydrometallurgical plant in Lamont County, Alberta, northeast of Edmonton.
The logistics plan relies on the concentrator's low "mass pull." Fortune Minerals says this means flotation will capture valuable metals from about 180 tonnes of concentrate per day from 4,650 tonnes of ore, representing about 4% of the mined material.
Fortune Minerals is working from a 2014 resource estimate: 33.1 million tonnes grading 1.03 grams per tonne gold, 0.11% cobalt, 0.14% bismuth, and 0.04% copper. The estimate contains 1.1 million ounces of gold, 82.3 million pounds of cobalt, 102.1 million pounds of bismuth, and 27.2 million pounds of copper.
The company expects to produce about 8,780 tonnes of cobalt sulfate, 47,000 ounces of gold, 1,700 tonnes of bismuth products, and 500 tonnes of cement copper annually over a 20-year mine life. Cobalt and bismuth are central to the company's critical minerals strategy. Cobalt is a key raw material for lithium-ion batteries, while bismuth has defense and electronics uses. Its refined supply is dominated by China. Gold provides a buffer for the project against price volatility in battery and defense metals.
Although the road grant does not fund the mine or the Alberta refinery, it removes a large piece from the capital stack as Fortune Minerals updates its costs. Goad said the Nico project's 2014 capital estimate of about C$600 million would inflate to around C$1 billion today before updated engineering, infrastructure savings, and government support. The upcoming feasibility study is expected to reset that number.
Fortune Minerals has raised about C$17.5 million in grants and loans from Canadian, U.S., and Alberta programs to help drive the Nico project toward an investment decision. These include U.S. Defense Production Act Title III support, Natural Resources Canada funding, Alberta Innovates funding, and a Prosper NWT loan related to the Alberta refinery site acquisition.
In 2019, after the Rural Municipality of Corman Park in Saskatchewan refused a zoning change for its first refinery site, Fortune Minerals moved the downstream plant to Alberta. Goad has said the decision directly cost the company about five years and between C$5 million and C$10 million.
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