Horizonte Minerals plc has chosen Wood plc for the principal engineering contract to conduct the feasibility study (FS) for its Vermelho nickel-cobalt project in the Pará State, northeast Brazil.
VERMELHO
Vermelho lies in the Carajás mining district which has developed infrastructure and hydroelectric power as a result of sustained mining activities.
The company’s flagship nickel project is at Araguaia.
CAPACITY
Horizonte said that the pre-FS dated 2019 comprised a planned open pit nickel laterite mining operation covering a number of different pits.
“The hydro-metallurgical process incorporates a beneficiation plant where ore is upgraded prior to being fed to a centralised high-pressure acid leach (HPAL).
“The project will mine a 141.3 million tonne (Mt) probable mineral reserve to produce 924kt of nickel, 36kt of cobalt and 4.48 Mt of a saleable by-product, kieserite (a form of fertiliser) over an initially projected 38-year mine life.
“At full production capacity, the project is expected to produce an average of 25,000 tonnes of nickel and 1,250 tonnes of cobalt per year, utilising the HPAL process.”
Horizonte expects that Vermelho will create more than 1,800 direct jobs in the construction phase, and in excess of 600 jobs during operation, as well as additional economic and social development programmes.
ADDITIONAL CONTRACTS
Horizonte added it was also in the final stages of awarding additional contracts including pilot test work, mining, hydrogeology, hydrology, infrastructure and logistics packages.
Environmental licensing for Vermelho is well advanced, and the company expects to make before the end of the year key regulatory submissions to form the basis for the construction licence.
GROWTH
Chief executive Jeremy Martin said that Araguaia and Vermelho had a combined inventory of more than four million tonnes of nickel.
“By leveraging the synergies of these two world-class projects, located within trucking distance of each other in a stable and pro mining jurisdiction, Horizonte is well positioned to deliver its growth target of producing 60,000 tonnes of nickel per year, placing the company amongst the global leaders in primary nickel production outside Indonesia.”