Horizonte Minerals losses narrow slightly as it presses towards production

Nickel development company Horizonte Minerals announced its final results for the year ended 31 December on Tuesday - a year in which it once again made nil revenue.

The AIM-traded firm’s operating loss narrowed slightly to £1.45m from £1.53m, while its loss before tax was down to £1.67m from £1.75m.

Its basic and diluted loss per share was 0.142p, narrowing from 0.24p.

Among its operational highlights, Horizonte noted its agreement with Vale to acquire 100% of the advanced Vermelho nickel-cobalt project in Brazil.

It completed a fundraise of £9.2m post year-end in January 2018, £7m of which was raised in the UK and closed before year-end, with cash standing at £9.4m as at year-end.

Contracts were awarded for the Araguaia feasibility study during the year, along with the announcement of the limonite mineral resource at Araguaia of 20.7 million tonnes grading 1.13% nickel and 0.12% cobalt.

Horizonte completed and filed the mine construction licence for Araguaia to SEMAS, the Pará State authority responsible for environmental licensing, for the construction of the project, including the mine, associated infrastructure and the pyro-metallurgical processing plant.

The board also pointed to its improved nickel market fundamentals, and said the feasibility study was well advanced, with completion planned for mid-year 2018.

“We believe that with our continued progress at Araguaia and becoming a multi-asset nickel and cobalt company we are currently well placed to benefit from the improving nickel market fundamentals, driven by the robust market for stainless steel combined with the fast growing EV market,” said chairman David Hall.

“On behalf of the board, we would like to again thank all our stakeholders for their continued hard work and support as we build an exciting future for our company.”