COBALT-GOLD: Fortune updating NICO feasibility

[caption id="attachment_1003722884" align="aligncenter" width="508"] Rendering of the NICO open pit, mill and camp in the Northwest Territories. (Image: Fortune Minerals)[/caption] NORTHWEST TERRITORIES – Fortune Minerals of London, Ont., is updating the 2014 feasibility study for its NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project 160 km northwest of Yellowknife. The project is one of the few new cobalt mines that could be in production by the early 2020s, says the company. Fortune has hired Hatch, P&E Mining Consultants and Micon International to complete the study. New design developments, current capital and operating costs, commodity prices, currency exchange rates, and the economics of increasing mill throughput by 20% to 30% must all be considered. The company has signed confidentiality agreements with 25 potential sources of project financing. It hopes to have a short list selected by the time the feasibility study is complete. Fortune says it would prefer to attract one or more strategic investors for a conventional debt and equity arrangement. The NICO mine and mill are to be located in the Northwest Territories. Concentrates will be shipped to a hydrometallurgical plant near Saskatoon, Sask., where they will be refined into  cobalt sulphate, gold, bismuth ingot and oxide, and copper cement. Check at www.FortuneMinerals.com for the updated feasibility study when it is ready.