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Excerpt from February 3, 2026, BMO Metals Brief:

Major USA stockpile announcement: President Trump has announced plans for a strategic stockpile of critical minerals backed by $10bn in seed funding from the US Export-Import Bank (EXIM). The scheme, called “Project Vault”, will combine EXIM capital with $2bn in private funding to stockpile minerals for automakers, tech companies and other manufacturers. Under the arrangement, companies that sign up (involving an up-front fee) can make an initial commitment to purchase materials at a specified price later, and will then be able to present Project Vault with a “shopping list” of preferred materials they need. More than a dozen companies have agreed to participate so far according to Bloomberg, including GM, Stellantis, Boeing, Corning, GE and Google. A key element is that manufacturers who commit to buy a specified amount of materials at a set price also commit to repurchase the same amount at that same cost in the future.
 
Cobalt & Bismuth
 
The Guardian - February 2, 2026
A rare earths mine in California. Donald Trump has announced a $12bn critical minerals reserve to counter the prospect of any shortages in ...
A rare earths mine in California. Donald Trump has announced a $12bn critical minerals reserve to counter the prospect of any shortages in ...

Donald Trump has announced the creation of a critical mineral reserve worth nearly $12bn, a stockpile that could counter China’s ability to use its dominance of the hard-to-process metals as leverage in trade talks…“Today we’re launching what will be known as Project Vault to ensure that American businesses and workers are never harmed by any shortage,” Trump said at the White House on Monday…He compared it to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), which was created in the 1970s when an Arab oil embargo led to a disruptive shortage of gas…The US secretary of the interior, Doug Burgum, said 11 additional countries would be announced for the initiative later this week…The project will initially be funded by a $10bn loan from the US Export-Import Bank and nearly $1.67bn in private capital. The minerals kept in the reserve would help to shield the manufacturers of vehicles, electronics and other goods from any supply chain disruption. During trade talks last year spurred by Trump’s tariffs, China restricted the exporting of rare earths that were needed for jet engines, radar systems, electric vehicles, laptops and phones…“We don’t want to ever go through what we went through a year ago,” Trump said in an apparent reference to the showdown with China, adding that, ultimately, “it did work out”. The president said he expected the government to make a profit from the loan being used to start the reserve…Trump announced the reserve with General Motors CEO Mary Barra and mining industry billionaire Robert Friedland in the Oval Office, along with other members of his administration and congressional leaders.

 
North of 60 Mining News - February 2, 2026
North of 60 Mining News - February 2, 2026 Ministers from Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, ...
North of 60 Mining News - February 2, 2026 Ministers from Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, ...

Northern territories and western provinces unite to accelerate critical minerals development and enhance supply chain resilience…In an unprecedented move to align regional ambitions into a unified strategy, four western provinces and all three northern territories have formed a critical minerals syndicate to position Canada's resource-rich North and West as a global hub for responsibly mined critical minerals…Ministers from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut joined Brar for a critical minerals summit on the sidelines of the AME Roundup mining conference in Vancouver, B.C…The summit concluded with the Jan. 25 signing of a memorandum of understanding that serves as the framework for a Western Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy with three primary goals… Promote western and northern Canada as a global hub for critical minerals innovation and sustainable development…Prioritize and coordinate regional critical mineral hubs…Identify the infrastructure planning and investment needed to maximize critical mineral extraction, processing, and export capacity…"We see opportunity across our shared borders, and we are stronger and more successful when we advance this potential together," said Northwest Territories Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment Caitlin Cleveland…These cross-border synergies are further supported by major federal investments into energy, transportation, and digital infrastructure projects designed to open Canada's North…In addition to enabling and lowering the cost of mineral development in the North, the nation-building transportation corridor provides economic opportunities for western provinces that will serve as supply hubs and potential processing centers for northern mines developed along the AESC…Fortune Minerals Ltd.'s NICO bismuth-cobalt-copper-gold project, which will involve the development of a mine in Northwest Territories and a refinery in Alberta, is an example of the provincial economic opportunities from critical minerals development in the North…By leveraging existing transportation and energy infrastructure at an existing industrial site in Alberta, Fortune is lowering the costs and risks to the vertically integrated critical minerals supply chain it is establishing in Canada…For Alberta, the refinery expands upon the jobs and economic opportunities that will come with serving as a major supply hub for the future NICO mine…"With our world-class geology, our strength in processing and refining, and our commitment to responsible resource development, we are well-positioned to help build secure and resilient critical minerals supply chains for Western Canada," said Alberta Minister of Energy and Minerals Brian Jean…"Working together, we can make Canada a global leader in critical minerals and strengthen the security and sovereignty of our nation," said Laking…The Western Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy is expected to be finalized ahead of the 2026 Energy and Mines Ministers' Conference, to be held in Yellowknife this June.

 
 
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For further information about the NICO Project and its Mineral Reserves, please refer to the Technical Report on the Feasibility Study for NICO, entitled "Technical Report on the Feasibility Study for the NICO-Gold-Cobalt-Bismuth-Copper Project, Northwest Territories, Canada", dated April 2, 2014 and prepared by Micon, which has been filed on SEDAR and is available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.

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Fortune Minerals Limited does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any third party publication regarding the Company and accepts no liability for any direct or consequential losses arising from its use. The information contained in third party publications is subject to verification by the user and Fortune is under no obligation to provide, or comment upon, such publications. This communication is not, and under no circumstances is to be construed as, an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any securities. Any decision to invest in securities in the secondary market or otherwise should only be made after consulting the investor’s own investment, legal, accounting and tax advisors in order to make an informed determination of the suitability and consequences of such investment.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

The materials appearing in this email contain forward-looking information. This forward-looking information includes, or may be based upon, estimates, forecasts, and statements as to management’s expectations with respect to, among other things, the size and quality of the Company’s mineral resources, progress in permitting and development of mineral properties, timing and cost for placing the Company’s mineral projects into production, costs of production, amount and quality of metal products recoverable from the Company’s mineral resources, anticipated revenues, earnings and cash flows from the Company's mineral projects, demand and market outlook for metals and coal and future metal and coal prices. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is given, and is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. These factors include the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, uncertainties with respect to the receipt or timing of required permits and regulatory approvals, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drilling results and other geological data, fluctuating metal and coal prices, the possibility of project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, the possibility that production from the Company's mineral projects may be less than anticipated, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, uncertainties related to metal recoveries and other factors. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Inferred mineral resources are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that mineral resources will be converted into mineral reserves. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information because it is possible that predictions, forecasts, projections and other forms of forward-looking information will not be achieved by the Company. The forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date hereof and the Company assumes no responsibility to update them or revise it to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.