Tests confirm battery grade cobalt sulphate at NICO project in Northwest Territories

[Ben Graham]

Fortune Minerals (TSX: FT) said on Wednesday it has successfully concluded validation test work for an optimized hydrometallurgical flowsheet to produce battery grade cobalt sulphate heptahydrate for the NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project in Canada’s Northwest Territories. 

The company is developing its flagship NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper deposit, which it says contains 12% of global bismuth reserves as well as 1.1 million in-situ ounces of gold. 

In 2024, Fortune secured funding from both the Canadian and US governments. The domestic funding, from Natural Resources Canada, amounts to C$7.5 million ($5.5 million).  

Separately, the company was awarded $6.38 million by the US Department of Defense to expand the capacity and production of cobalt for the battery and high-strength alloy supply chain. 

In its press release on Wednesday, Fortune said the latest test results verified that a high-quality cobalt sulphate heptahydrate product can be generated with good metal recoveries from a simplified process flow sheet to help mitigate capital and operating costs escalation for the NICO Project.  

The NICO project comprised of a planned open pit and underground mine and concentrator in the Northwest Territories and a dedicated hydrometallurgical refinery in Alberta, where concentrates from the mine, and other feed sources, will be processed.

The company said the NICO project will provide a reliable North American supply of battery grade cobalt sulphate, bismuth ingots, and copper cement – with more than one million ounces of in-situ gold as a highly liquid and countercyclical co-product.  

“Our new government is working with Canada’s world-class minerals industry to build resilient, secure, sustainable – and most importantly, made-in-Canada – critical mineral supply chains,” Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources said in the statement. 

“This milestone from Fortune Minerals is not only an important step forward, but a perfect example of how Canada can deliver the world-class products, from batteries to magnets and beyond, that our domestic and international manufacturers and partners need,” Hodgson said.