Horizonte Minerals completes award of equipment contracts for nickel project

Following completion of the competitive tender processes, and detailed negotiations, the company has now secured equipment supply and technical support services for the balance of the Araguaia process flow sheet from leading global suppliers. This is in line with the strategy employed for the award of the furnace contract to Hatch Ltd. earlier this year.

Horizonte is pleased to be working with FLSmidth A/S, Metso Outotec Oyj, Uvån Hagfors Teknologi AB (UHT), Inteco Melting, and Casting Technologies GMBH and other leading suppliers to the ferronickel industry. The successful completion of these contract awards is a significant de-risking event for the project. Importantly it provides more certainty on costs for a material portion of the overall capital expenditure and builds confidence in the project schedule by gaining commitments for the delivery of key equipment on site in the timeframe required.

Jeremy Martin, CEO of Horizonte, commented:

“Completing the award of these key process related contracts is a major milestone for the development of Araguaia as, together with the previously announced award of the furnace contract, this represents around US$135 million of capital expenditure on the project and provides increased confidence in our planned development timelines. The first pieces of equipment are expected on site during Q4 of this year, in line with the overall project schedule. To date we have awarded contracts totalling US$293 million (including the US$135 million of process equipment noted above) on budget and on time, which continues the positive momentum building at Araguaia.

“From the outset we have pursued a strategy of working with best-in-class partners. It is pleasing to see all our contracts awarded to tier 1 industry-leading suppliers who bring significant experience and successful track records at similar projects in Brazil to our already experienced team. FLSmidth and Metso Outotec in particular have played a key role in our project development strategy as they underpin a significant portion of our export credit agency linked financing and we are grateful for the support they and their respective export credit agencies have provided to date.”

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/14072022/horizonte-minerals-completes-award-of-equipment-contracts-for-nickel-project/