Fortune Minerals Secures Key Permit Renewals for NICO Cobalt-Gold-Bismuth-Copper Project
According to Fortune Minerals on September 18, the company’s NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project in Canada’s Northwest Territories has received renewals for its Class A Water Licence and Type A Land Use Permit. The water licence was approved by the Northwest Territories Minister of Environment and Climate Change on September 14.
The permits cover the NICO mine and concentrator and are among the key regulatory approvals required for construction and operation following completion of the project’s environmental assessment. They also establish conditions for construction, operations, closure and reclamation.
The NICO project is 100%-owned by Fortune Minerals. The company plans to develop mining and concentrating facilities in the Northwest Territories and transport the resulting concentrate to a proposed hydrometallurgical refinery in Alberta, where products including battery-grade cobalt sulfate would be produced.
The permit renewals further reduce regulatory uncertainty surrounding the project’s development and support efforts to establish a domestic North American cobalt supply chain.