27 February 2025
LONDON, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQB: FTMDF) (“ Fortune ” or the “ Company ”) (www.fortuneminerals.com) is pleased to comment on the recent commodity price activity for the metals contained in its vertically integrated NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper critical minerals project (“ NICO Project ”) in Canada. The NICO Project is a development stage asset comprised of a planned open pit and underground mine and concentrator in the Northwest Territories (“ NWT ”) and a dedicated hydrometallurgical recovery plant in Lamont County, Alberta (“ Hydrometallurgical Facility ”). The Hydrometallurgical Facility will process concentrates from the mine, and other feed sources, to produce value-added metals and chemicals for the energy transition, new technologies and defense. Development of the NICO Project would provide a reliable North American supply of cobalt sulphate, gold doré, bismuth ingots, and copper cement enhancing domestic supply chains for three critical minerals and a highly liquid and countercyclical gold co-product to mitigate metal price volatility.
The Mineral Reserves for the NICO Deposit are 33.1 million metric tonnes containing 1.1 million ounces of gold, 82.3 million pounds of cobalt, 102.1 million pounds of bismuth (12% of global reserves) and 27.2 million pounds of copper to support a 20-year planned mine life. The Company also owns the Sue-Dianne satellite copper deposit, located 25 km north of the NICO Deposit.
Gold price approaching US$3,000 per ounce
Recent geopolitical issues and trade disputes are inflationary, resulting in higher demand for safe haven assets like gold. Gold has been trading at historic all-time high prices of more than US$2,900 per ounce, providing a highly liquid co-product to help insulate project economics from critical mineral price volatility.
Bismuth price up more than 300% to a 17-year high
The projected revenues from the NICO Project have historically been primarily from cobalt and gold but NICO is also the largest deposit of bismuth in the world with 12% of global reserves. The bismuth price has more than tripled over the past few weeks and is currently trading at prices of more than US$20 per pound. Bismuth is identified on the Canadian and U.S. Government Critical Minerals Lists having unique physical and chemical properties used in important industrial, environmental and defense applications but with supply chains that are vulnerable to disruption. China controls approximately 90% of refined bismuth supply, which threatens national security from geographic concentration of production and policy risks. Notably, Bismuth is one of five critical minerals that China recently imposed export restrictions on due to ongoing trade disputes with the U.S. China’s bismuth exports to the U.S. are assessed with a 25% tariff.
Cobalt export moratorium in the Democratic Republic of Congo
On February 22, 2025, the Democratic Republic of Congo (“ DRC ”) announced that it is suspending cobalt exports for four months to rein in oversupply on the international market. The government is also preparing other measures to help balance the market and encourage domestic processing. The DRC produces about three-quarters of the world’s cobalt mine supply, approximately 60% of which is controlled by Chinese State-Owned Enterprises (“ SOE’s ”), which also control 80% of global refined cobalt and 90% of cobalt chemical supply. Overproduction and predatory pricing have pushed cobalt to all-time inflation adjusted low prices near US$10 per pound, down from US$40 per pound in 2022, and causing some western producers to suspend operations. Western governments have therefore been calling for price control actions such as floor or two-tier pricing structures, tariffs, and/or bans on government purchases of cobalt products from foreign entities of concern. The DRC measures are expected to support higher cobalt prices and help restore economic fundamentals to the market.
NICO Project
NICO is a polymetallic IOCG-type deposit with four payable metals, reducing exposure to the price of any individual metal and help insulate the project from price manipulation. As a vertically integrated development, the NICO Project is also not beholden to third-party owned downstream process plants. Development of the NICO Project would provide a vertically integrated domestic supply of three critical minerals with supply chain transparency and custody control over the contained metals from ores through to the production of value-added products and help mitigate security of supply issues from foreign entities of concern.