Nickel group Horizonte Minerals (LON:HZM) (CVE:HZM) has appointed consultant Snowden to carry out the pre-feasibility study work on its Araguaia deposit in Brazil.
Snowden will lead the work on the study and co-ordinate a number of other groups. The expected completion date for the PFS is the first half of next year.
As part of the study, Snowden will update the current NI 43-101 compliant resource to include the results of 9,300m of infill drilling completed in June.
The current resource, established in February 2012, is 39.3mln tonnes (Mt) at grades of 1.39% Ni (Indicated) and 60.9Mt at 1.22% Ni (Inferred) at a 0.95% Nickel cut-off.
A recent preliminary economic assessment also confirmed the suitability of the ore at Araguaia for treatment using the well-established Rotary Kiln Electric Furnace (RKEF) process.
IGEOLOGIA, a Brazilian engineering company, will help design the RKEF plant. It has extensive pyrometallurgical processing experience of Nickel laterites in Brazil including at Anglo American’s Barro Alto plant.
Jeremy Martin, Horizonte’s chief executive, said: “The aim is to deliver the PFS in H1 2014 which we believe will be a major milestone and a value driver for the company.
The completion of the PFS will be another step to de-risking our 100% owned flagship project and highlighting Araguaia's financial and technical merits as the next potential major Nickel development project in Brazil."
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