North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

Fortune Minerals Ltd. Jan. 12 reported federal funding for the construction of an all-season road to Whati, a Northwest Territories community about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Fortune's Nico cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project. Following an existing winter route, the Tlicho Road will span 97 kilometers (60 miles) between Whati and Highway 3.

The federal government will provide up to 25 percent of the costs to build this road.

"Replacing the existing winter road to Whatì will reduce challenges associated with impacts of climate change, create new employment and training opportunities for residents, result in more reliable and efficient delivery of goods, and provide new opportunities to develop our territory's economic potential," explained Wally Schumann, transportation minister, Northwest Territories.

The road is also a key element to developing Nico, a mine that would produce cobalt, along with gold, bismuth and copper as by-products.

Over the past two decades, Fortune has invested more than C$115 million advancing Nico from an in-house discovery to a development stage project that includes a planned mine and concentrator in the Northwest Territories and refinery in Saskatchewan.

According to 2014 feasibility study, mineral reserves at Nico will support a 21-year mine that would average 1,615 metric tons of battery-grade cobalt; 41,300 ounces of gold; 1,750 metric tons of bismuth; and 265 metric tons of copper per year.

Fortune has already received its environmental assessment approval and the major permits needed to build the mine, including a 50-kilometer (30 miles) spur road to Whati.

The Tlicho Road would provide a route for concentrates to be trucked to Hay River where it would be loaded on railcars for delivery to Fortune's proposed refinery in Saskatchewan. Completing this development would make Fortune an important supplier of cobalt materials needed to manufacture lithium-ion batteries.

"With cobalt and gold prices firming, and greater certainty of an all-season road, Fortune is well-positioned to secure the financing needed to begin construction of the Nico mine," said Fortune CFO David Massola.

-SHANE LASLEY