On January 24, Fortune Minerals Limited announced plans to purchase a former steel fabrication plant located in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland. Fortune intends to construct a hydrometallurgical refinery for the planned NICO Cobalt-Gold-Bismuth-Copper mine in the Northwest Territories.
“The planned NICO Project in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland supports our region’s robust diversification efforts and highlights our value proposition for companies looking to execute their capital growth strategies, develop new technologies and advance their ESG priorities,” says Mark Plamondon, AIHA Executive Director. “Fortune Minerals’ innovative vision and metallurgical process technology for the NICO Refinery will promote further energy supply chain integration within North America, solidifying Alberta and Alberta’s Industrial Heartland as a critical jurisdiction for Canada’s energy future.”
The refinery would process concentrates from the mine and produce cobalt sulphate for the rapidly expanding lithium-ion rechargeable battery industry and their use in electric vehicles, portable electronic devices, and stationary storage cells to make electricity use more efficient.