Fortune Minerals Secures Option to Purchase Brownfield Site in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland for NICO Refinery
Summary
This former steel fabrication plant includes site improvements and more than 40,000 square feet of serviced shops and buildings that are anticipated to materially reduce capital costs for the planned NICO Project development. • Brownfield location in the Edmonton area with geographic synergies to the NICO mine in the NWT and existing facilities that can be integrated into the planned refinery • Aligns with key Canadian and Alberta government policy objectives for western economic diversification, value-added processing in Canada, and greater domestic participation in the North American Critical Minerals supply chain for battery materials and EV’s • Complements the Alberta Government Mineral Resource Development Act and the objectives identified in the new minerals strategy and action plan • Indicative interest from federal and provincial governments for financial support • Industrial Heartland planning approvals to attract heavy industry and municipal tax incentives keyed to capital investment • Access to CN Rail and intermodal transportation hubs to receive concentrate, reagents and other plant feeds, to ship products, and facilitate future diversification into the recycling business • Local services and utilities including power, natural gas, process and potable water, and a third party-owned site to dispose of the process residue • Commutable pool of engineers, trades and skilled labour to construct and operate the refinery • Proximity to other Critical Minerals sources and process facilities to enable geographic vertical integration of the Canadian battery materials supply chain and attract investment in downstream industries The NICO Project is comprised of a planned open pit and underground mine and mill in Canada’s NWT and a related hydrometallurgical refinery in Alberta. The disclosure of scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been approved by Robin Goad, M.Sc., P.Geo., President and Chief Executive Officer of Fortune, who is a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101. The bismuth market is approximately 20,000 tonnes per annum, but has growing demand as an ‘Eco-Metal’ and environmentally safe replacement for lead - in solder, galvanizing and brass alloys, free-machining steel and aluminum, paint, glass, ceramic glazes, cosmetics, solar voltaics, ammunition and fishing sinkers. Identification of the new refinery site was one of the few remaining milestones needed to complete the NICO Project development and solidify Fortune’s participation in the geographic vertical integration of the North American battery materials supply chain.