-- Fortune Minerals (FT.TO), which saw its shares jump 25% to shy of 52 week highs yesterday, recently applied to two government agencies for funding to build an access road to its Nico mine in the Northwest Territories, the company said on Wednesday.
Fortune, in a joint venture with the Tlicho Government to develop the access road, has applied to the Canadian government's Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund (CMIF) for up to $50 million.
The company has also responded to a U.S. Defense Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC) request for project proposals to boost domestic bismuth production. Fortune previously secured U.S. government support to advance the Nico project to a construction decision, a statement said.
Nico is the largest deposit of bismuth in the world with 12% of global reserves. The company's planned hydrometallurgical facility in Alberta will produce 99.99% pure bismuth ingot and oxide products, along with cobalt and copper critical mineral products. The Nico deposit in the NWT is within Tlochi territory, 160 km northwest of the City of Yellowknife.
Fortune Minerals closed up $0.035, to $0.17 per share on Tuesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.