Name and Location
Araguaia nickel project, Pará, Brazil.

Client
Horizonte Minerals.

Project Description
Horizonte has shown sturdy economics for the Araguaia project.

The project has a mineral reserve estimate of 21.2-million dry tonnes and an average grade of 1.66% nickel has been estimated for the project.

The base-case scenario considers the openpit configuration for the exploitation of nickel laterites to establish the production of run-of-mine from seven openpits, which supply a targeted 900 000 t/y of ore to a processing and smelter facility that uses the rotary kiln electric furnace (RKEF) process, with the product being sold at the mine gate.

Each of the deposits is proposed to be mined using typical truck-and-excavator mining. Although the primary fleet requirement changes throughout the life of the project, a typical configuration is six 48 t operating weight (OW) excavators, three 50 t OW front-end loaders, seventeen 40-t-rated payload (RP) articulated off-highway trucks and two 30 t RP on-highway trucks for longer interpit haulage.  This fleet is supported by the usual array of support and ancillary equipment. The project will produce ferronickel through the proven pyrometallurgical process of RKEF technology. The base-case scenario assumes a single line RKEF installation for 900 000 t/y dry ore, producing about 15 000 t/y nickel as ferronickel.

The project has a 25-year life-of-mine.

Value
The project is estimated at $582.18-million.

Duration
Production is expected to start in 2017.

Latest Developments
The next stage of the project’s development will be to proceed to the feasibility study.

While Horizonte is progressing the project toward the feasibility stage during the second half of the year, the Pará State Environmental Agency will analyse the social- and environmental-impact assessments and host a public hearing in the third quarter, where the project will be presented to local communities, rural landowners and authorities in the municipality of Conceição do Araguaia.

After the public hearing, Horizonte is confident that the State Environmental Council will issue a three-year preliminary licence that will prove that the project is environmentally and socially acceptable. The preliminary licence is the first stage in a three-stage environmental licensing process to develop a mine in the country.

The project developer plans to start production in 2017. A prefeasibility study (PFS), completed in March, calculated that the $582-million project would produce stainless steelmaking nickel at a rate of 15 000 t/y. The PFS generated a post-tax net present value of $519-million and an internal rate of return of 20%, based on a nickel price of $19 000/t.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Horizonte Minerals, tel + 44 207 763 7157 or email info@horizonteminerals.com.