# Fortune Announces Successful Tests to Produce Upgraded and Clean Cobalt Concentrate From the Nico Project Canonical Atlas analysis: https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/fortune-announces-successful-tests-to-produce-upgraded-and-clean-cobalt-concentr--9d5e483e-5bae-4322-a382-5b43f0ed710d Original source: https://money.tmx.com/en/quote/FTMDF/news/4943376291963266/fortune-announces-successful-tests-to-produce-upgraded-and-clean-cobalt-concentr Publisher: tmx Original announcement: 2018-09-17T11:12:00.000Z Analysis by Minestarters Atlas Atlas analysis published: Unknown date Atlas analysis updated: Unknown date - Company: Fortune Minerals Limited - Ticker: FTMDF - Exchange: TSX - Region: Northwest Territories - Primary commodity: Cobalt - Secondary commodities: Gold, Bismuth, Copper, Arsenic, Sulfur - Document categories: Metallurgy - Extracted: 2026-08-25 10:55:04 UTC Narrative sentiment: 0.80 · Bullish ## Minestarters Atlas summary Fortune Minerals has successfully completed metallurgical test work using DST technology to produce upgraded, arsenic-free cobalt concentrate at the NICO Project. The process removes 99% of arsenic and increases metal grades by 20-30%, offering a lower-CAPEX development pathway. Reasoning: Successful metallurgical test work demonstrated the ability to produce clean, high-grade cobalt concentrate by removing arsenic, significantly de-risking the project's commercial viability and reducing capital requirements. - Positive factor: Successful arsenic removal \(99%\) - Positive factor: Concentrate grade increase \(20-30%\) - Positive factor: Lower CAPEX/OPEX potential - Positive factor: Proven technology \(DST\) - Positive factor: No cobalt/gold/copper losses - Negative factor: Lower revenue compared to vertically integrated model - Negative factor: Greater dependence on third party processors Facts used in scoring: 4 ## Classification and evidence **Free Milling** Polarity: positive Definition: Simple, clean ore amenable to standard processing without oxidation. Why it applies: The release notes that gold can be successfully recovered by cyanidation of the bulk concentrate. Evidence · text > Gold can be successfully recovered by cyanidation of the bulk concentrate **Mill Route** Polarity: neutral Definition: Processing via mill or concentrator \(CIL, CIP, tank leach, flotation\). Why it applies: The technology is applied to metal concentrates produced from the mine to be processed in existing circuits. Evidence · text > create metal concentrates that are more attractive to the market and can be processed in existing metal recovery circuits ## Extracted facts Stored fact records: 4. Some facts used in scoring do not have a stored record. ## Metallurgical Results (4) ### Fact 1 [Link to this fact](https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/fortune-announces-successful-tests-to-produce-upgraded-and-clean-cobalt-concentr--9d5e483e-5bae-4322-a382-5b43f0ed710d#fact-metallurgical-facts-0) arsenic #### Identity - Commodity: arsenic - Ticker: FTMDF #### Test Work - Sample: NICO bulk concentrate #### Recovery - Recovery: 99 % - Recovery Basis: actual\_test #### Review - Needs Review: No - Historical: No #### Dates - Event date: 2018-09-17T00:00:00.000Z Reasoning: Successful removal of arsenic from bulk concentrate to below 0.2%. - Positive factor: 99% removal achieved Evidence · text > Successful removal of 99% of the arsenic in NICO bulk concentrate to lower than 0.2% ### Fact 2 [Link to this fact](https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/fortune-announces-successful-tests-to-produce-upgraded-and-clean-cobalt-concentr--9d5e483e-5bae-4322-a382-5b43f0ed710d#fact-metallurgical-facts-1) cobalt #### Identity - Commodity: cobalt - Ticker: FTMDF #### Test Work - Sample: NICO bulk concentrate after pyrolysis #### Review - Needs Review: No - Historical: No #### Dates - Event date: 2018-09-17T00:00:00.000Z Reasoning: Mass reduction from selective removal of arsenic and sulphur increases metal grades by 20-30%. - Positive factor: 20-30% grade increase Evidence · text > Metal grades in the concentrate increased by 20-30% due to mass reduction ### Fact 3 [Link to this fact](https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/fortune-announces-successful-tests-to-produce-upgraded-and-clean-cobalt-concentr--9d5e483e-5bae-4322-a382-5b43f0ed710d#fact-metallurgical-facts-2) gold #### Identity - Commodity: gold - Ticker: FTMDF #### Test Work - Sample: NICO bulk concentrate #### Recovery - Recovery: 100 % - Recovery Basis: actual\_test #### Review - Needs Review: No - Historical: No #### Dates - Event date: 2018-09-17T00:00:00.000Z Reasoning: Pyrolysis process demonstrated zero gold loss, with recovery via cyanidation. - Positive factor: No gold losses during pyrolysis Evidence · text > No cobalt, gold, or copper losses from pyrolysis ### Fact 4 [Link to this fact](https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/fortune-announces-successful-tests-to-produce-upgraded-and-clean-cobalt-concentr--9d5e483e-5bae-4322-a382-5b43f0ed710d#fact-metallurgical-facts-3) copper #### Identity - Commodity: copper - Ticker: FTMDF #### Test Work - Sample: NICO bulk concentrate #### Review - Needs Review: No - Historical: No #### Dates - Event date: 2018-09-17T00:00:00.000Z Reasoning: Pyrolysis process demonstrated zero copper loss. - Positive factor: No copper losses during pyrolysis Evidence · text > No cobalt, gold, or copper losses from pyrolysis ## How Atlas produces this analysis Minestarters Atlas uses automated extraction to summarize mining announcements, identify reported measurements, and classify supporting evidence. Sentiment reflects the extracted narrative and classification rules; it is an interpretation, not a reported measurement. Evidence quotes and context are provided where available. Missing data, low-confidence results, and review flags indicate limitations. Check the original publisher announcement before relying on an interpretation.