On the ground in Whati, the geography does the talking. The NICO deposit, cobalt, gold, bismuth and copper together, sits in Tlicho territory roughly 160 kilometres northwest of Yellowknife and 50 kilometres north of this small community, and for years the missing piece between the ore and the market has been pavement. On 26 June 2026 that piece moved closer: the joint venture between Fortune Minerals of London, Ontario and the Tlicho Government won conditional approval from Ottawa for as much as $50 million toward building the 51-kilometre NICO project access road across Tlicho private lands, tying the future mine into the Northwest Territories highway system.
The money arrives through Natural Resources Canada’s First and Last Mile Fund, which will reimburse 75% of construction costs up to the $50 million ceiling. The road exists to serve the mine, hauling metal concentrates by truck and rail to a dedicated hydrometallurgical facility in Lamont County, Alberta, where they become cobalt sulphate, gold dore, bismuth ingots and oxide, and copper cement, value-added products aimed at the energy transition, new technologies and defence. Fortune says the award helps mitigate capital cost escalation as it pushes NICO toward a go-or-no-go construction decision, and the company is already in for more than $150 million on the development.
The scene in Ottawa’s announcement is one of partnership on display. Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson framed the fund as nation-building: “Canada is ready to build the infrastructure that unlocks our full critical minerals potential.” And, he said, “This investment also reflects our commitment to working in partnership with Indigenous governments, including the Tłıchǫ Government, to deliver lasting economic opportunities and community benefits,” stated the minister, whose portfolio is bankrolling the road. The Tlicho Government separately receives $200,000 from the fund for community engagement and a Traditional Knowledge study for the road, and the partners will study extending the all-season route toward Gameti, a stretch backers describe as a way to lower the cost of living and open future economic development across the middle of Tlicho lands.
The wider stakes are geopolitical. Fortune’s president, Robin Goad, made the region’s paradox plain: “The Northwest Territories has tremendous geological endowment with the potential to develop virtually any mineral commodity – but also suffers from an acute infrastructure deficit that raises the bar for economic viability.” His remedy is vertical integration at home. “Development of the NICO Project will provide a domestic process solution for cobalt, bismuth and copper to address critical mineral supply chain vulnerabilities, and gold.” When built, the project would produce three metals carrying spots on the critical minerals lists of North America and the European Union, together with 1.1 million ounces of gold still waiting in the ground, and the pitch is aimed straight at Western dependence on supply lines vulnerable to geographic concentration of production, political instability and policy risk from foreign entities of concern. Other money is already attached: a Global Partnerships Initiative grant from NRCan, the Defense Production Act program of the U.S. Department of War, Alberta Innovates’ Clean Resources Continuous Intake Program, and a term loan from Prosper NWT toward the Alberta refinery site.
By nightfall on announcement day, nothing had been poured and no culvert set; the approval is conditional, and a construction decision still hangs in the future. But a 51-kilometre line across Tlicho private lands now has a federal cheque behind it, reimbursing three quarters of the cost, and a minister’s slogan attached to its cargo: “Made in Canada, for Canadians.” For a territory that Goad says holds an acute infrastructure deficit, the road itself, mine or no mine, is half the point.
Sources
- Fortune Minerals Ltd. – News & Media
- Fortune – Tlicho Joint Venture to Receive up to $50 Million From Government of Canada First and Last Mile Fund
