TSX included in Top Gainers list on FT) News

The stock has joined the TSX’s top percentage gainers list on news today, currently trading at 0.1900

+0.0200 (+11.76%) on volume of over 8.2 million shares. The stock’s morning high is $0.2200.

Fortune is a Canadian mining and mineral processing company focused on developing the NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project in the Northwest Territories and Alberta. Fortune also has a satellite Sue-Diane copper-silver-gold deposit located 25 km north of the NICO deposit and is a potential future source of incremental feed to extend the life of the NICO concentrator.

Fortune Minerals Limited announced that it has recently submitted applications to two government agencies with programs to support domestic critical minerals development and supply chain diversification. Fortune and the Talchi Government are forming a joint venture to develop an access road to the company’s NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper mine and concentrator in the Northwest Territories (“NWT”) and have applied to the Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund (“CMIF”) for support of up to $50 million for the construction of this spur road. Fortune has also responded to the U.S. Department of War (“DOW”) Defense Industrial Base Consortium (“DIBC”) request for project proposals to address the gap in domestic bismuth production. NICO has the largest reserves of bismuth in the world, with approximately 12% of global reserves, and the company’s planned hydrometallurgical facility in Alberta will produce 99.99% pure bismuth ingots and oxide products. The hydrometallurgical facility will produce critical mineral products of cobalt and copper as well as gold as a spin-off co-product. If the government program applications are successful, there is good potential to reduce capital requirements for the planned vertically integrated NICO development.

The NICO deposit in the NWT is within the Tlachi region, approximately 160 km north-west of the city of Yellowknife and 50 km north of the community of Whye where the territorial highway system currently ends. Fortune and the Talchi government are forming a joint venture to pursue CMIF funding for the construction of a spur road to the company’s planned mine and concentrator. Fortune and the Tlichu Government will also evaluate the road’s potential to provide incremental expansion of the all-weather road towards the Gameti community, improve access and delivery of services, and promote future economic development in the central part of Tlichu lands. The joint venture is a good example of government-to-government and industry collaboration to develop critical heritage mine infrastructure for community benefit.

DoW’s recent request for project proposals prioritizes thirteen critical minerals for financial assistance to expand domestic processing capabilities, particularly bismuth, of which China currently controls about 90% of refined production and is restricting exports to Western countries. This new DoW program aims to encourage the development of strong, resilient and secure domestic supply chains for identified critical minerals essential to national security and defence. DOW is seeking project proposals from DIBC members that address critical gaps in domestic production capacity and processing for which Fortune is well-positioned with respect to bismuth. Fortune has already secured U.S. Government support to advance the NICO project to a manufacturing decision through a Defense Production Act (“DPA”) Title III award (May 16, 2024, see news release). The U.S. Government’s support was partially matched by Canadian Government’s contributed funds through other Natural Resources Canada (“NRCN”) programs.

Access to critical minerals has become a focus for Western countries sensitive to disruptions in the supply chains of key raw materials needed by the energy transition, new technologies and defense-critical industries. As a country with tremendous geological wealth, Canada is positioning itself to help bridge the gap in critical mineral supplies and has entered into strategic partnerships with partner countries to invest in new mines and processing production. Western countries are investing in critical mineral development to reduce their dependence on existing sources of supply that are vulnerable due to geographic concentration of production, political instability, policy risks from foreign entities of concern, or poor environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) practices that are not consistent with Western democratic standards or values.

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