Horizonte awards port contracts for its Araguaia nickel project
Horizonte Minerals Plc has entered into two long-term port agreements, thereby securing access for the import of required raw materials and the export of its final ferro nickel product, for its 100%-owned Araguaia Nickel Project in Brazil, where construction is underway and first production remains on track to commence in 1Q24.
The contracts have been awarded to Grupo Atlantica Matapi and Santos Brasil Tecon Vila do Conde, both established operators in the Port of Vila do Conde in Pará State. These five-year contracts (with an option to extend for a further five years) are in line with Horizonte’s feasibility cost, once adjusted for the foreign exchange rate, and represent another key de-risking milestone for the project.
As well as being the closest port to Araguaia, Vila do Conde also provides bonded warehouse services, laydown areas, loading and storage facilities in line with the company’s operational requirements. Further, by securing the same port for both contracts, synergies exist through back haulage of consumables and ferro nickel product, allowing for both the inward and outward journeys to be utilised, maximising the cost savings.
Jeremy Martin, CEO of Horizonte Minerals, commented:
“As we move closer to our first debt draw down, these port contracts are a key condition to accessing the debt facility, another example of the progress we are making in terms of de-risking the project.
“With every new partnership we enter into, we take a step closer to unlocking the full potential at Araguaia, and more broadly across Horizonte’s portfolio, and realising our objective of becoming a low-cost nickel producer.”
Read the article online at: https://www.drybulkmagazine.com/dry-bulk/06122022/horizonte-awards-port-contracts-for-its-araguaia-nickel-project/
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