Nickel developer Horizonte Minerals has awarded the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contract for the construction of its Araguaia ferronickel project to Pöyry Tecnologia, a Brazilian subsidiary of global engineering services firm AFRY.
In parallel with the award of the EPCM contract, Horizonte has built its owner’s team with a focus on key individuals in the ferronickel space in Brazil. Led by head of projects Mike Drake, the 86-member-strong project leadership team has mobilised at the Belo Horizonte and Conceição do Araguaia offices.
“We have been working with the local Pöyry team for several months in our project execution planning phase to ensure a smooth transfer to the construction phase of Araguaia,” says Horizonte CEO Jeremy Martin, adding that the owner’s team will be delivered according to an EPCM strategy, in partnership with AFRY.
Leonardo Vianna is Araguaia project director, Leonardo Paiva is project services manager, Marcia Wiesen is commissioning and business readiness manager, Marco Magalhaes is construction manager, Albert Jacobs is engineering manager and Manuel Rodrigues is technical manager.
The Araguaia project is fully funded. In an initial production phase, about 900 000 t/y of ore will be treated in a rotary kiln electric furnace (RKEF) to produce about 14 500 t/y of nickel contained in 52 000 t/y of ferronickel. The feasibility study includes an option to double production to 29 000 t/y of contained nickel by the addition of a second RKEF in the third year of the project.