Fortune Minerals Secures Option to Purchase Brownfield Site in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland for NICO Refinery - Seite 2

Sonya Savage, Minister of Energy, Government of Alberta

“I am pleased to see continued investment and diversification in the Industrial Heartland with Fortune Minerals’ plan to establish a new cobalt refinery which will also have the future potential to recycle metals from post-consumer batteries from across Alberta. This project will create well-paid jobs for Albertans and continued prosperity for my constituency.”
Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk, MLA for Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville

“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. 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.”
Mark Plamondon, Executive Director of Alberta’s Industrial Heartland Association

“More economic growth and diversification in Alberta’s energy and tech sectors shows our competitive edge in action. This includes access to highly skilled labour, resources, and transportation links from Alberta’s globally recognized Industrial Heartland and combined with our business-friendly environment thanks to the Alberta tax advantage and a streamlined regulatory framework.”
Rick Christiaanse, CEO of Invest Alberta Corporation

Refinery Site

The JFSL facility is situated on 76.78 acres of land adjacent to the Canadian National Railway (“CN Rail”) in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland, an association of five municipalities northeast of Edmonton with planning approvals and tax incentives designed to attract heavy industry. This former steel fabrication plant includes site improvements and more than 40,000 square feet of serviced shops and buildings that are anticipated to materially reduce capital costs for the planned NICO Project development.

Key Site Attributes

• Brownfield location in the Edmonton area with geographic synergies to the NICO mine in the NWT and existing facilities that can be integrated into the planned refinery
• Aligns with key Canadian and Alberta government policy objectives for western economic diversification, value-added processing in Canada, and greater domestic participation in the North American Critical Minerals supply chain for battery materials and EV’s
• Complements the Alberta Government Mineral Resource Development Act and the objectives identified in the new minerals strategy and action plan
• Supports the Canada–U.S. Joint Action Plan on Critical Minerals Collaboration
• Lowest combined federal and provincial tax rate in Canada
• Indicative interest from federal and provincial governments for financial support
• Industrial Heartland planning approvals to attract heavy industry and municipal tax incentives keyed to capital investment
• Access to CN Rail and intermodal transportation hubs to receive concentrate, reagents and other plant feeds, to ship products, and facilitate future diversification into the recycling business
• Local services and utilities including power, natural gas, process and potable water, and a third party-owned site to dispose of the process residue
• Proximity to primary reagent suppliers including lime and acid
• Commutable pool of engineers, trades and skilled labour to construct and operate the refinery
• Proximity to other Critical Minerals sources and process facilities to enable geographic vertical integration of the Canadian battery materials supply chain and attract investment in downstream industries

NICO Project