The Brazilian Piauí State Environmental Agency has issued privately held Brazilian Nickel an installation licence for its PNP1000 project, enabling construction work to begin.
PNP1000 is the initial, small scale commercial production project at the Piaui nickel project (PNP).
The PNP1000 will allow Brazilian Nickel to accelerate into production and to access early cashflow, while simultaneously advancing its bankable feasibility study and, thereafter, construction of the full scale PNP.
First nickel and cobalt hydroxide production from the PNP1000 is expected in the second quarter of next year.
Brazilian Nickel will convert the demonstration plant, which successfully demonstrated the recovery of nickel and cobalt from the Piauí ore in 2016 and 2017, into a small scale operation producing about 1 400 t/y of nickel and about 35 t/y of cobalt contained in intermediate products.
The subsequent full scale project will increase the ore mining rate from 100 000 t/y to 3-million dry metric tonnes a year.