Horizonte awards contracts for Araguaia feasibility study

Brazil-focussed nickel development company Horizonte Minerals announced on Monday that it completed the tender process, and was awarding the contracts for the feasibility study for its 100%-owned Araguaia nickel project.

The AIM-traded firm said the aim of the FS was to deliver the most economically robust production scenario to produce 14,500 tonnes per annum of nickel using the proven rotary kiln electric furnace technology.

Its strategy was to position itself as one of the lowest cost nickel producers globally, with the FS targeted for completion by the end of 2017 and the company being fully funded through to completion of the study.

The board confirmed the contracts were awarded to “leading consultants”, including WorleyParsons Group to undertake the process engineering, Snowden Mining Industry Consultants for the mine planning, mineral resource estimate and the reserve estimate, and Environmental Resources Management to undertake the hydrogeology and the environmental and social permitting.

Other specialised consulting groups had also been appointed for additional sections of the FS including groups involved in the pre-feasibility study, the board added.

The Araguaia feasibility study had now formally commenced, with the project kick-off meeting being held on site during the first week of March and a number of work streams already underway.

“The company's aim is to build a best-in-class ferronickel operation and to achieve this we need to deliver a robust FS with capital and opex costs to +/-10% with a high level of engineering completed allowing direct flow into the implementation phase,” said Horizonte CEO Jeremy Martin.

“The tender and selection process has been an involved exercise as our aim was to contract leading consulting groups with a strong track record in ferronickel and also project delivery experience in Brazil.”

Martin said the board was “delighted” with the strong FS team it had created for Araguaia.

“In addition to our recent appointment of a FS Manager for Araguaia, we have strengthened our in-house team to ensure that we retain control over all FS deliverables and to facilitate effective communication between the multidisciplinary groups.

“I am confident that we have built an excellent team structure and FS roadmap to deliver on our objectives by the end of the year so that we continue to create value for our shareholders.”