Horizonte awards Vermelho assessment contract to Ramboll

Brazil-focussed nickel company Horizonte Minerals has awarded a contract for the environmental and social impact assessment on its wholly-owned nickel cobalt Vermelho project to Ramboll, it announced on Thursday.

The AIM-traded firm described Ramboll as a “leading global consultancy firm” with 300 offices, including in Belo Horizonte.

It said the assessment was an “essential part” of the permitting process for Vermelho, and was expected to lead to the award of the preliminary licence.

As Vermelho is located within the state of Pará, the technical agency responsible for reviewing the environmental impact study and report would be the Pará State Secretariat for Environment and Sustainability, or ‘SEMAS’.

The company said the previous owner Vale conducted multiple environmental and social studies, and reached a positive construction decision in 2015.

It said the historical database created by Vale provided an “excellent” background and basis of the new sustainability studies.

Horizonte was also optimising the engineering for Vermelho's dry-stack residue storage facility option.

An additional benefit from the project resulting from the optimisation was the production of a bi-product, kieserite fertiliser, which would be sold commercially into the Pará state agricultural market.

Ramboll would be completing new field campaigns in a Covid-19-safe manner, and was “well serviced” by its existing sustainability team in the Pará state region.

The integrated assessment would reflect the current physical, biological and social settings, the company explained, and would include water availability and quality, an air and noise baseline study, soil quality, a flora and fauna inventory, socio-economic considerations, community health and safety, resettlement, and cultural heritage.

In addition to local permit studies, further social and environmental impact assessments would be undertaken in line with International Finance Corporation performance standards, and the Equator Principles.

“The appointment of Ramboll highlights our commitment to the highest standards of sustainability practices as we work to develop Vermelho,” said chief executive officer Jeremy Martin.

“Vermelho is a tier one nickel-cobalt project that will come online to supply the rapidly-growing electric vehicle (EV) battery market.

“The planned completion of Araguaia financing will enable Horizonte to expedite the development of Vermelho through feasibility and permitting.”

Martin said Vermelho was scheduled to start production at a “critical point” in the nickel market, where the supply deficit was projected to widen, particularly in the battery sector.

“With limited next-generation nickel projects in the global near-term pipeline, Horizonte is in a unique position.

“Progressing Vermelho through to a construction ready status will significantly de-risk the project and we believe this will be increasingly reflected in the value attributed to the project by the market.

“Advancing Vermelho and working towards the start of construction at Araguaia are all part of our business plan as we move to become a significant nickel producer, allowing shareholders to realise value from our exceptional, wholly-owned asset base.”

At 1301 BST, shares in Horizonte Minerals were down 0.56% at 7.95p.