Fortune Minerals Provides Summary of Key Highlights of the Recent Cobalt Institute Cobalt Market Report 2021

19 May 2022

Fortune Minerals Provides Summary of Key Highlights of the Recent Cobalt Institute Cobalt Market Report 2021

May 19, 2022

Transition to Electric Vehicles driving year on year and projected cobalt demand growth

LONDON, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQB: FTMDF) (“Fortune” or the “Company”) (www.fortuneminerals.com) is pleased to provide a summary of the key highlights from the Cobalt Institute’s (“CI”) Cobalt Market Report 2021 (access report here) released this week. The CI is a trade organization promoting the sustainable and responsible production and use of cobalt with member companies comprised of producers, developers, users, traders, and recyclers of cobalt metals and chemicals. The Cobalt Market Report 2021 confirms cobalt’s essential role in diverse industrial applications, and particularly as an enabler of the green economy transition and innovation of rechargeable battery technologies supporting accelerating global electric vehicle (“EV”) sales. Fortune’s NICO Cobalt-Gold-Bismuth-Copper Project (“NICO Project”) is a Canadian, vertically integrated, Critical Minerals development and one of the few cobalt assets in the world that can be developed in the timeframe needed to meet today’s cathode chemistries in rechargeable batteries used in EV’s, portable electronics and stationary storage cells.

Robin Goad, Fortune’s President and CEO, commented, “The transition to a low carbon economy is picking up as world leaders adopt net zero targets and efforts grow to transform the automotive industry to electric vehicles. The Cobalt Institute’s Cobalt Market Report 2021 is an independently authored and comprehensive analysis of the essential role cobalt plays in the growing green economy.”

Cobalt Market Report 2021 Highlights:

  • 31,600 metric tonne (“Mt”) (22%) year on year (“y/y”) demand growth to 175,000 Mt
  • Estimated market value of US$8.4 billion;
  • Projected 12.7% CAGR demand growth to 320,000 Mt by 2026;
  • Lithium-ion batteries accounted for 65% of cobalt demand with 85% y/y growth;
  • EV’s are now the largest cobalt end use with 34% of market demand;
  • Sales of battery electric and plug-in hybrid EV’s totaled 6.7 million units globally, up 102% y/y;
  • The percentage of new battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle sales was 26% in China, 19% in western Europe, and 5% in North America in Q4 2021, indicative of an accelerating EV adoption rate;
  • Nickel- and cobalt-based battery cathodes dominate the EV market (75%) leveraging their superior energy density, performance and recyclability;
  • 26% of cobalt demand was in batteries used in mobile phones with 12% y/y growth;
  • Drones are the second fastest growing non-EV sector accounting for 5% of cobalt demand growth from lithium-ion batteries;
  • Non battery applications for cobalt chemicals include pigments, catalysts, tires, inks, driers and food additives, whereas cobalt metals are consumed in cemented carbides, alloys, diamond tools, and magnets;
  • Cobalt mine supply grew to 165,000 Mt, 74% of which (118,000 Mt) was mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo;
  • Cobalt refinery production continues to be dominated by China with 104,000 Mt (72%) of total primary refined cobalt;
  • Cobalt cathodes were selling at ~US$32/lb at the end of 2021 and the price is currently ~US$40/lb.

NICO Project:

Fortune has expended more than C$137 million to advance the NICO Project from an in-house discovery to a near-term producer with 20-years of Mineral Reserve containing three Critical Minerals (cobalt, bismuth and copper) and more than 1.1 million ounces of in-situ gold. The NICO Project is comprised of a planned mine and mill in Canada’s Northwest Territories (“NWT”) and a related hydrometallurgical refinery in Alberta to process metal concentrates from the mine to cobalt sulphate, gold doré, bismuth ingots and oxide, and copper. The Company has received environmental assessment approval and the Type “A” Water License to construct and operate the mine in the NWT. The recent completion of the C$200 million Tlicho Highway to the community of Whati is a key enabler for the NICO Project. This highway, together with the spur road to the mine that Fortune plans to construct, will allow metal concentrates to be trucked to the railway at Hay River or Enterprise, NWT for delivery to the Company’s proposed Alberta refinery.

For more detailed information about the NICO Mineral Reserves and certain technical information in this news release, please refer to the Technical Report on the NICO Project, entitled "Technical Report on the Feasibility Study for the NICO-Gold-Cobalt-Bismuth-Copper Project, Northwest Territories, Canada", dated April 2, 2014 and prepared by Micon International Limited which has been filed on SEDAR and is available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com

See full news release here. 

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