JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The granting of a water permit for industrial water consumption at Aim- and TSX-listed Horizonte’s Araguaia project, in north-eastern Brazil, has brought the nickel project one step closer to its objective of being “construction ready” by the end of this year.
The water licence, granted by the Pará State Environmental Agency, guarantees Horizonte access to water for the full-scale commercial operation, including mining and beneficiation plant activities.
Water will be pumped from the Arraias river through an 11 km pipeline to a water cooling dam, which will be located beside the Araguaia beneficiation plant. The planned operation includes a closed-circuit system and the company aims to recycle between 80% and 90% of the total water used in the process.
"The availability of water for mining projects is a key risk in many countries, the permit guarantees the company access to the water required for mining and processing,” commented CEO Jeremy Martin.
Araguaia plans to produce 14 500 t/y of contained nickel in about 50 000 t/y of ferronickel from processing 0.9-million tonnes.
The feasibility study for the Horizonte project will be completed by the middle of the year.