Jangada applies for trial mining licence at Pitombeiras project

Jangada Mines has submitted an application to Brazil’s national mining agency, Agência Nacional de Mineração (ANM), to obtain a trial mining licence for its wholly-owned Pitombeiras vanadium project in the country’s Ceará State.

The AIM-traded firm said once approved, the licence would allow for the extraction of 300,000 tonnes of ferrovanadium-bearing material per year from its exploration licenses.

It said the purpose of the mining would be to evaluate the technical aspects and economic benefits of the Pitombeiras project.

“The application for the trial mining licence is another key step for Jangada in ensuring the transition from developer to producer with the aim to start production in 2022,” said executive chairman Brian McMaster.

“On the submission of our application last week, we have been exceptionally well received by the top local mining authorities, state secretaries and community representatives, including the mayor of the municipality of Tauá where the project is located.”

McMaster said the company had held a series of meetings and project site visits to show the “robustness” of the Pitombeiras project, detailed in its recent preliminary economic assessment, along with its development strategy and potential benefits to the local community.

“Upon the trial mining licence being granted, Jangada will work to implement a pilot plant, which will not only provide cash flow from operations but also will enable us to qualify bulk samples in the marketplace and establish future, firm offtake agreements on a larger scale operation.”

At 1611 GMT, shares in Jangada Mines were down 2.7% at 9.05p.