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

Fortune Minerals (TSX: FT) says it has successfully concluded validation tests for an optimized hydrometallurgical flowsheet to produce battery-grade cobalt sulphate heptahydrate for its flagship project in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

The company is developing the 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.

The NICO project includes a planned open pit and underground mine and concentrator in Northwest Territories. The company also plans to build a 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 1 million oz. 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 added.