Horizonte pleased with test work from Vermelho project

Brazil-focussed nickel development company Horizonte Minerals announced positive results from metallurgical and smelting test work on the Vermelho nickel cobalt project, located in the southern part of the Carajás mining district in Pará state, northern Brazil on Thursday.

The AIM-traded firm said tests of Vermelho saprolite samples returned an average ferronickel grade of 31.8% nickel.

It explained that the ferro nickel product was of “high quality”, being low in trace elements and meeting the commercial requirement of stainless-steel manufacturers.

The results confirmed the suitability of the conventional rotary kiln electric furnace for processing Vermelho saprolite ore, Horizonte said.

“We are pleased to report the test work has confirmed that it is possible to produce high grade, commercial specification ferronickel from the saprolite and transition ore at Vermelho,” said Horizonte Minerals chief executive officer Jeremy Martin.

“These results confirm the suitability of the proposed conventional rotary kiln electric furnace process selected for the company's Araguaia ferronickel project is also suitable for processing Vermelho ore.

“In parallel the test work at SGS Lakefield on limonite samples from Vermelho to demonstrate its suitability for production of high purity nickel and cobalt sulphate to supply the electric vehicle battery markets is at an advanced stage and we look forward to reporting on the results of this work.”

Martin noted that the company currently had a pre-feasibility underway for the project, with the data from the test work and the work being undertaken by SGS Lakefield to be incorporated into the study, with the objective of demonstrating a “robust” set of economics for the selected process route.

“Elsewhere, we continue to advance the construction financing on the Araguaia project, against a backdrop of global growth in nickel consumption running at around 4 to 5% per year with stainless steel currently accounting for two thirds of demand.

“Going forwards and coupled with this continued growth in stainless steel, nickel use in battery chemistry is set to increase significantly.

“This robust demand story for nickel positions Horizonte well, owning 100% of two tier one nickel projects, within trucking distance of each other with the potential to produce 40,000 to 50,000 tonnes per year of nickel.”