Horizonte Minerals Plc (AIM: HZM | TSX: HZM), a nickel company developing two Tier 1 assets in Brazil, has announced it has awarded Wood Plc the principal engineering contract to undertake a feasibility study for Horizonte’s 100%-owned Vermelho nickel-cobalt project.
Jeremy Martin, CEO of Horizonte Minerals, commented: “We are pleased to be working with Wood Plc to deliver the feasibility study for the Vermelho project. The commencement of the feasibility is an important step forward in unlocking Vermelho’s significant value.
There are very few nickel resources of this scale and quality at an advanced stage of development, leaving Vermelho well positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for sustainable critical metals.”
Vermelho is a large high-grade, long mine life, scalable resource, designed to be a low-cost producer of nickel and cobalt for the battery industry. The Vermelho feasibility study contract award is another key milestone for Horizonte as it advances towards its long-term objective of becoming a 60,000tpa nickel producer, following the start of construction at Araguaia, its ferro-nickel project, early this year which is on schedule to produce first nickel in Q1 2024.
Horizonte’s Vermelho mine is designed to produce 25,000t of nickel and 1,250t of cobalt per year over a 38-year mine life. The pre-feasibility study (dated October 2019) estimated a NPV of US$3.4B and a post-tax IRR of 38.6% with net cash flows of US$12.9B using a nickel price of US$23,000/t.
The feasibility study cost estimate will be completed to AACEI Class 3 standard. Additional contracts that are in the final stages of being awarded by Horizonte, include pilot test work, mining, hydrogeology, hydrology, infrastructure, and logistics packages. Environmental licencing for Vermelho is also at an advanced stage, with key regulatory submissions, forming the basis for the construction licence issuance, expected to be made prior to year-end.
Finally, Wood Plc is a global leader in project delivery, engineering, and technical services with experience across several the major high pressure leach nickel operations globally.
“Vermelho is in the Carajás mining district, an area that features well-developed infrastructure, and hydroelectric power. The project is designed to produce nickel in intermediate or refined form and will be a globally significant, non-conflict, ethical source of cobalt.” Added Jeremy.
To find out more, please visit www.horizonteminerals.com
