(TheNewswire)
January 20, 2021 - TheNewswire - Vancouver, British Columbia - Fuse CobaltInc. (“the Company” or “Fuse”) (TSXV:FUSE), (OTC:FUSEF),(FRA:43W3) is pleased to announce that onDecember 22 2020, the government of Canada and the government ofOntario announced a joint $10-millioninvestment in the First Cobalt Corp. refinery in Cobalt Ontario. Significantly, this refinery is locatedapproximately 1500 m west of Fuse Cobalt’s cobalt mineralexploration property and inside the historic silver-cobalt producingregion of Ontario.
Furthermore, on Jan 12, 2021 ,First Cobalt also finalized a new supply arrangement with Glencore plc(LSE: GLEN) along with a tentative pact with aunit of China Molybdenum Ltd, in which First Cobalt willreceive 4,500 tonnes of cobalt hydroxide per year from theDemocratic Republic of the Congo for use in its northern Ontariorefinery beginning in 2022. This supplycontract is significant for the region becauseit will assist the refinery to become fully operational, and oncecompleted, it will be North America's only producer of cobaltsulfate for the electric vehicle (EV) market.
Robert Setter comments “Fuse has an offtakearrangement in place with Glencore Canada which we have mentioned manytimes in past news releases and public disclosure. Now that ourneighbor appears to have a cobalt refinery just steps away from ourmineral exploration properties, this can make the economics of cobaltrefining significantly better for Fuse in the long run. We are happyfor this key development in the area, and the advantage it offers toall cobalt explorers in the region.”
The $10 million investment will help accelerate thecommissioning and expansion of the facility. The refinery is ahydrometallurgical cobalt refinery that was permitted in 1996 with anominal throughput of 12 tonnes per day and operated intermittentlyuntil 2015, producing cobalt, nickel, and silver products. In May2020, the company completed an engineering study that confirmed therefinery's suitability to treat cobalt hydroxide at an expandedthroughput of 55 tonnes per day to produce a high-purity, batterygrade cobalt sulphate. Today, approximately 80 per cent of globalsupply comes from China and there is no production in NorthAmerica.
Importantly, cobalt prices have started the yearstrongly, with Benchmark Mineral Intelligence saying the market wasunderpinned by strong fundamentals and tipping a “marginaldeficit” by late 2021. Across all end markets, Benchmark MineralIntelligence forecasts that cobalt demand will increase by 15 to 20percent year-on-year, with the majority of this driven by the batterysector.
Cobalt Projects
The Teledyne CobaltProperty located in Bucke and Lorrain Townships,consists of 5 patented mining claims totaling 79.1 ha, and 46unpatented mining claim cells totaling approximately 700 ha. TheProperty is easily accessible by highway 567 and a well-maintainedsecondary road .
Over $25 million Can has been spent thus far, (2020dollars inflation-adjusted) on the Teledyne Property resulting invaluable infrastructure including a development ramp and a moderndecline going down 500 ft parallel to the vein. The Teledyne Propertyis subject to a production royalty in favor of New Found Gold and anoff-take agreement in favor of Glencore Canada Corp., while theGlencore Bucke Property is subject to a back-in provision, productionroyalty, and an off-take agreement in favor of Glencore Canada Corp.Glencore plc is the world’s largest producer of cobalt.
The Glencore BuckeProperty consists of two patented mining claimstotaling approximately 16.2 ha in area located on the west boundary ofFuse’s Teledyne Cobalt Project. In 1981, Teledyne leased mining claim 585 (“Glencore Bucke Property”)from Falconbridge Nickel Mines Ltd. The company recognized thesignificant exploration potential that the Property had due to thepossible southern extensions of the Cobalt Contact veins on miningclaim T43819 that projected southward onto the Property. In the fallof 2017, Fuse completed 21 diamond drill holes totaling 1,913.50 m atGlencore Bucke in a first phase of drilling designed to confirm andextend the existing known mineralized zones on the property. Theprogram tested the Main Zone for a strike length of approximately 55 mand the Northwest Zone for a strike length of approximately 45m.
In 2018, Fuse completed 24 diamond drill holes totaling2,559 m in phase II at Glencore Bucke which successfully intersectedmineralized zones along strike and vertically above and below previousintersections reported in 2017 on the Main and Northwest Zones. ThePhase 2 program also tested several outlying targets with drill holeGB18-41 aimed at testing for mineralization at depth beneath ahistorical trench which intersected anomalous cobalt mineralization.Cobalt, zinc, silver and copper were present. Not all holes werereleased, with holes GB18-31 through to GB18-40 to be announced in asoon to be released NI 43-101 report nearing completion.
Past Cobalt Mining andProduction
The Glencore Bucke Property adjoins the AgaunicoProperty on the northeast corner. From 1905 through to 1961, theAgaunico Mine produced a total of 4,350,000 lbs. of cobalt (“Co”),and 980,000 oz of silver (“Ag”) (Cunningham-Dunlop, 1979). Theamount of cobalt produced from the Agaunico Mine is greater than thatof any other mine in the Cobalt Mining Camp. Production ceased in 1961due to depressed Co prices and over-supply (Thomson, 1964).
Cobalt mineralization consisted of cobaltite andsmaltite hosted within steeply dipping veins and extensivedisseminations within Huronian sedimentary rocks. From 1951 through to1957, the average Co content of the mineralized material mined at theAgaunico Mine was approximately 0.5%. In 1955, 526,000 lbs. of Co,146,000 oz of Ag, 117,000 lbs. of nickel (“Ni”), and 81,000 lbs.of copper (“Cu”) were extracted from 62,000 tons of ore(Cunningham-Dunlop, 1979).
A significant portion of the cobalt that was producedat the Agaunico Mine was located along structures (Vein #15) thatextended southward towards the northern boundary of the TeledyneCobalt Property, currently 100% owned by FUSE. Mineralization wasgenerally located within 125 ft (38.1 m) above the Huronian/Archeanunconformity. Stoping widths of up to 50 ft (15.2 m) were not unusualat the Agaunico Mine (Cunningham-Dunlop, 1979).
Qualified Person
The technical content of this news release has beenreviewed and approved by Joerg Kleinboeck, P.Geo., an independentconsulting geologist and a qualified person as defined in NI43-101.
About Fuse Cobalt Inc. www.fusecobalt.com
Fuse Cobalt Inc. is a Canadian based explorationcompany that trades under the symbol FUSE on the TSX Venture Exchange.The Company's focus is on exploration for high value metals requiredfor the manufacturing of batteries.
Ontario Cobalt Properties: Fuse owns a 100% interestits Glencore Bucke Property, situated in Bucke Township, 6 kmeast-northeast of Cobalt, Ontario, subject to a back-in provision,production royalty and off-take agreement. The Glencore Bucke Propertyconsists of 16.2 hectares and sits along the west boundary of Fuse'sTeledyne Cobalt Project. The Company also owns a 100% interest,subject to a royalty, in the Teledyne Project which consists of 785hectares of land and is also located near Cobalt, Ontario. TheTeledyne Property adjoins the south and west boundaries of claims thathosted the Agaunico Mine, a former producer of both silver andcobalt.
Nevada Lithium Project consists of 100 placer claims covering 2000 acres (809hectares) at Teels Marsh, Nevada. The property, called Teels MarshWest is highly prospective for Lithium brines and is locatedapproximately 48 miles northwest of Clayton Valley and the RockwoodLithium Mine, North America’s only producing brine-based Lithiummine supporting lithium production since 1967. Access to Teels Marshis via dirt road, west of Highway 95 and northwest of Highway 360.Teels Marsh West is a 100% owned without any royalties, located on thewestern part of a large evaporation pond, or playa (also known as asalar). Structural analysis reveals that Teels Marsh is bounded byfaults and is tectonically active. Tectonic activities supplyadditional local permeability that could be provided by the faultsthat bound the graben and sub-basins.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
"Robert Setter"
Robert Setter, President &CEO
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange norits Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in thepolicies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for theadequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may containforward-looking statements which include, but are not limited to,comments that involve future events and conditions, which are subjectto various risks and uncertainties. Except for statements ofhistorical facts, comments that address resource potential, upcomingwork programs, geological interpretations, receipt and security ofmineral property titles, availability of funds, and others areforward-looking. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees offuture performance and actual results may vary materially from thosestatements. General business conditions are factors that could causeactual results to vary materially from forward-lookingstatements.
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