Horizonte Begins Construction Of A Araguia Nickel Mine in Brazil

Horizonte Minerals has begun construction of its Araguaia nickel mine in northern Brazil, which will produce 29,000 tonnes of battery metal a year, mainly to supply the stainless steel market.

The project, which will take about two years to build, will initially produce 14,500 tonnes of nickel a year. The construction includes an open-pit mine and a processing plant, which is expected to produce nickel-iron within 28 years.

Araguaia is considered a key project in the diversification of Brazil's mining industry, which is centred on iron ore.

Horizonte is also advancing a feasibility study for the Vermelho nickel-cobalt project, also in Para State. Vermelho expects to produce about 15,000 tonnes of nickel and 0.06,000 tonnes of cobalt per year in the first phase.

Vermelho's capacity could increase to 24,000 tonnes of nickel per year over the 38-year life of the mine.

With estimated nickel reserves of 16 million tons, Brazil is currently the world's eighth largest nickel producer, producing 100,000 tons in 2021.

Global nickel use surged 16.2 per cent last year as demand surged in the stainless steel and battery end-use industries. The result is a nickel shortage of 168,000 tonnes, the biggest production shortfall in at least a decade, according to the latest statistics on the market from the International Nickel Research Organisation.