TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Project developer Fortune Minerals has replenished its coffers through the sale of the remaining equipment it salvaged from the Golden Giant mine, at Hemlo, in Ontario.

While the equipment was originally meant for use at the proposed Nico gold/cobalt/bismuth/copper development, in the Northwest Territories and Saskatchewan, it had now become redundant because of changes to the engineering of the processing facilities.

Fortune had acquired the Golden Giant mine buildings, equipment and an inventory of spare parts from Newmont Canada and Mindecom Industrial Constructors in 2006 and 2008, after the mine had closed. It undertook to reclaim valuable equipment for reuse at Nico.

The $415 000 the company had raised through the divestiture would, however, come in handy to advance work on the Nico project and for general working capital purposes.

Fortune reported that it had received $265 000 of the proceeds and a further $75 000 was due on or before November 30. The final $75 000 instalment was due on or before March 31, 2016. The sale also eliminated costs associated with the storage of this equipment.

The TSX-listed company, which most recently unsuccessfully tried its hand at mining silver in Colorado, assured investors that it was engaged in discussions with several companies interested in offtake purchase agreements for the metals and chemicals to be produced from the Nico project.

The company was also advancing discussions with potential partners to secure project financing for the proposed development. Fortune reported that it had signed confidentiality agreements with globally recognised firms and discussions were leveraging the positive outlook for cobalt needed to make rechargeable batteries used in portable electronic devices, electric vehicles and stationary storage cells.