Horizonte Minerals PLC (LON:HZM) (TSX:HZM) has highlighted another quarter of good progress at its projects in Brazil.
At its flagship Araguaia project, mine financier Orion is to provide US$25mln for a 2.25% royalty on the first 426,429 tonnes of contained nickel within the final product (ferronickel) produced and sold.
Horizonte also published a first resource for the Serra do Tapa nickel deposit that sits 90km to the north-west of Araguaia.
In the Measured and Indicated category, Serra do Tapa contains 70.3mln tonnes grading 1.22% nickel, which has boosted Horizonte’s total tonnage by 30%.
A significant portion of high-grade saprolite within the deposit is amenable to the Rotary Kiln Electric Furnace ferronickel process route, potentially providing a further high-grade feed source for the Araguaia project, said the junior.
Since the end of the quarter, Horizonte has also published a pre-feasibility study for the Vermelho nickel-cobalt deposit, its second site in Brazil.
The study projected a 38-year mine life for Vermelho, with total cash flows over that time estimated at some US$7.3bn after tax.
On a base case, the valuation is US$1.7bn (net present value) and the internal rate of return is 26%.
Horizonte posted a loss of £1.1mln in the three months to September.