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Next Generation","cobalts-next-generation","article/cobalts-next-generation",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":560,"content":570,"excerpt":689,"featured":50,"reporter":690,"_editable":694,"component":695,"seo_title":553,"categories":696,"visibility":705,"author_company":49,"featured_image":706,"seo_description":689,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":711,"formattedArticleDate":712},"54a29e7b-fb20-41aa-a857-22b675322398","2017-04-19 00:00",[],[561],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":564},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":565,"image":566,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":567},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/2c5ca5c1a3/didi-bostock.jpeg","Didi is the Energy Transition & Economics Editor at Benchmark, covering a broad range of markets across the energy transition. His remit spans from downstream sectors such as BESS and EVs, through to midstream such as new technologies and battery production, to upstream critical minerals mining. He also leads on financial analysis across these supply chains, alongside in-depth policy analysis.\n","https://www.linkedin.com/in/didi-bostock-656342198/",{"type":571,"content":572},"doc",[573,582,598,605,610,615,636,643,648,656,662,667,672,680,686],{"type":574,"attrs":575,"content":576},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[577,580],{"text":578,"type":579},"Despite an extended period of low prices, cobalt has spiked in the last 12 months and once again attention is on the lithium ion cathode mineral. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence spoke to Robin Goad, CEO of Fortune Minerals about NICO – one of the few late stage","text",{"text":581,"type":579}," development cobalt projects in North America seeking to tap into the rapidly evolving battery market.",{"type":574,"attrs":583,"content":584},{"textAlign":49},[585,587,592,594],{"text":586,"type":579},"Caspar Rawles:",{"text":588,"type":579,"marks":589},"Can you give us an introduction to the NICO project and its vital ",[590],{"type":591},"italic",{"text":593,"type":579},"statistics",{"text":595,"type":579,"marks":596}," please? ",[597],{"type":591},{"type":574,"attrs":599,"content":600},{"textAlign":49},[601,603],{"text":602,"type":579},"Robin Goad:",{"text":604,"type":579}," Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT; OTCQX: FTMDF) is developing its 100% owned NICO Project, comprised of a proposed mine and mill in Canada’s Northwest Territories and refinery in Saskatchewan, to become a vertically integrated producer of cobalt chemicals for the lithium-ion battery industry with gold and bismuth co-products. NICO will be a North American cobalt chemical producer in a market that is dominated by Congolese mine production, by-product copper and nickel cobalt sources, and Chinese refining capacity.",{"type":574,"attrs":606,"content":607},{"textAlign":49},[608],{"text":609,"type":579},"NICO has Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves of more than 33m tonnes containing 82.3m lbs (37,300 MT) of cobalt, 1.11m Oz’s of gold, 102.1m lbs (46,300MT) of bismuth, and 27.2m lbs (12,300 MT) of copper to support a 21-year open pit mine life at a mill rate of 4,650 tonnes of ore per day. A simple flotation process reduces the ore from the mine to 180 tonnes per day of concentrate for transportation to Saskatchewan for processing to the final chemical and metal products.",{"type":574,"attrs":611,"content":612},{"textAlign":49},[613],{"text":614,"type":579},"The refinery will have life of mine average annual production of 1615 tonnes of cobalt contained in a cobalt sulphate heptahydrate, 41,300 ounces of gold, 1750 tonnes of bismuth in ingots, needles and oxide and minor byproduct copper. The refinery is also designed with flexibility to allow for toll processing of concentrates from other mines and we envision diversifying into the battery and metals recycling business in the future.",{"type":574,"attrs":616,"content":617},{"textAlign":49},[618,620,624,626,630,632],{"text":619,"type":579},"CR:",{"text":621,"type":579,"marks":622},"There has already been ",[623],{"type":591},{"text":625,"type":579},"C$116m",{"text":627,"type":579,"marks":628}," (US$88.2m) investment in the project, does this mean some of the mine ",[629],{"type":591},{"text":631,"type":579},"infrastructure",{"text":633,"type":579,"marks":634}," is completed? ",[635],{"type":591},{"type":574,"attrs":637,"content":638},{"textAlign":49},[639,641],{"text":640,"type":579},"RG:",{"text":642,"type":579}," Yes – Approximately C$20m (US$15.2m) of underground pre-production development work comprised of 2km of excavations and a ventilation shaft have already been completed to support combined open pit and underground mining operations in the first two years of the mine life. This work was done for the underground test mining that was done in 2006 and 2007 to validate the deposit grade and geometry and to collect large fresh samples for pilot plant tests. The underground operations will be focussed on the gold-rich, high-grade core in the early years of production to accelerate the payback. Additionally, there is a small camp and shop facility and a network of roads.",{"type":574,"attrs":644,"content":645},{"textAlign":49},[646],{"text":647,"type":579},"Our investment of C$116m (US$88.2m) has advanced NICO through several resource cycles, from an in-house discovery in 1996 to the point we are now working with PwC to secure project financing for construction. The work includes positive Feasibility and Front-End Engineering and Design studies with sufficient detailed engineering for procurement. The mineral reserves have been drilled in detail and validated in test mining. Development risks have been mitigated by pilot plant tests proving the process methods, metal recoveries and products we will produce. At this point, NICO is essentially shovel-ready with Environmental Assessment approvals completed in both jurisdictions and the major mine permits already in place.",{"type":574,"attrs":649,"content":650},{"textAlign":49},[651,652],{"text":619,"type":579},{"text":653,"type":579,"marks":654},"What significant milestones for the project do you hope to achieve over the next 12 months?",[655],{"type":591},{"type":574,"attrs":657,"content":658},{"textAlign":49},[659,660],{"text":640,"type":579},{"text":661,"type":579}," The announcement of federal funding for the construction of the Tlicho All-Season Road (TASR) in the Northwest Territories is an essential enabler for the NICO mine to proceed. The TASR will connect the community of Whati to the Northwest Territories public highway system.",{"type":574,"attrs":663,"content":664},{"textAlign":49},[665],{"text":666,"type":579},"Fortune is already permitted for, and will assume the cost of extending a spur road to the mine site allowing for the transportation of metal concentrates to southern Canada for processing. The TASR is in the late stages of environmental assessment and is expected to be completed this summer. Confirmation that funding is available will inform the environmental assessment process in terms of timing for construction.",{"type":574,"attrs":668,"content":669},{"textAlign":49},[670],{"text":671,"type":579},"The road certainty and growing demand for cobalt in lithium-ion batteries were important milestones that will increase the confidence for securing the approximately C$600m (US$456m) needed for project financing and construction. Fortune recently announced that it has engaged PwC to help arrange the project financing that will likely entail a combination of strategic partnerships, conventional and supplier debt, product off-take and/or forward sales of a portion of the contained gold. The key to realizing full value for any one component will be to close on the entire project financing at the same time.",{"type":574,"attrs":673,"content":674},{"textAlign":49},[675,676],{"text":619,"type":579},{"text":677,"type":579,"marks":678},"The project is looking to secure financing, how much are you currently looking to raise and what are you looking to do with that investment? ",[679],{"type":591},{"type":574,"attrs":681,"content":682},{"textAlign":49},[683,684],{"text":640,"type":579},{"text":685,"type":579}," The capital cost for the construction of the NICO Project is C$589m (US$447.6m) plus working capital – C$242m (US$183.9m) is for the refinery in Saskatchewan and the remaining C$347m (US$263.7m) for the mine site and access road in the Northwest Territories. Upon receipt of the approximately C$600m (US$447.6m) needed to build the mine and refinery construction can begin and is anticipated to take 2 to 2.5 years to complete.",{"type":574,"attrs":687,"content":688},{"textAlign":49},[],"Despite an extended period of low prices, cobalt has spiked in the last 12 months and once again attention is on the lithium ion cathode mineral. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence spoke to Robin Goad, CEO of Fortune Minerals about NICO – one of the few late stage development cobalt projects in North America seeking to tap into […]",[691],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":692},{"job_title":565,"image":693,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},{"filename":567},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"54a29e7b-fb20-41aa-a857-22b675322398\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[697,700,702],{"slug":698,"name":699},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":701,"name":115},"cobalt",{"slug":703,"name":704},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals","private",{"id":49,"alt":707,"name":707,"focus":707,"title":707,"source":707,"filename":708,"copyright":707,"fieldtype":709,"meta_data":710,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/46ca45464e/bm-screen-shot-2017-04-19-at-162721.png","asset",{"alt":707,"title":707,"source":707,"copyright":707},"Apr 19, 2017","19th April 2017",[],[],1792765768853]