Harvest Minerals Limited (LON:HMI, ASX:HMI) has appointed a principal contractor to start preparations for mining at its Brazil phosphate project.
DK Transportes, Demolição e Locação Eireli, or simply Eireli, will carry out two phases of work at the Maximus property in Minas Gerais state.
In the first sweep it will complete civil works including the construction of site access and the stockpile areas as well as the removal of the overburden from the planned open pit. This is expected to be completed in about a month.
Once the trial mining permit is granted it will extract 50,000 tonnes of ore, a process that’s expected to take a further 40 days. The plan is to mine double that figure with work hopefully getting underway before the year-end.
"The award of the environmental licence last week allows Harvest to commence the initial civil groundworks in preparation of mining,” said chairman Brian McMaster.
“With the appointment of Eireli, we will now begin constructing the site access, preparing the ROM pads and stripping the overburden.
“The completion of this is expected to coincide with the award of the trial mining permit, allowing us to start production around the end of October, well ahead of schedule."
Harvest Minerals shares have risen some 300% in the year to date, from 5p at the start of the year to around 20p.
Read- Shares in Harvest Minerals soar as first fertiliser production nears
Reed- Harvest Minerals environmental approval brings fertiliser production closer
Read- Too impatient for Sirius Minerals? Harvest should be producing fertiliser in 2016
Following the nod from Brazilian authorities, Miton UK MicroCap Trust fund acquired another 3.3mln of Harvest shares, taking its total stake in the firm up to 10.37%.
At the end of last month, the group reported better-than-expected results at its Arapua phosphate fertiliser project in Brazil.
Agronomic and metallurgical testwork confirmed that no toxic elements were present at the project, while results relating to solubility were described as excellent.
Analysis also showed that Harvest will have the option to produce two lines of fertiliser product, offering customers different grades, allowing it to address different market sectors.