Centaurus Metals Grabs Jaguar by the Tail
COMMODITY CAPERS: Centaurus Metals (ASX: CTM) received a boost for the company’s 100 per cent-owned Jaguar nickel sulphide project in northern Brazil in the shape of selection as a Strategic Minerals Project by the Brazilian Federal Government.
The Strategic Minerals Policy is part of the Investment Partnership Program – PPI (Programa de Parcerias de Investimento), a new Brazil governmental initiative designed to support companies while developing their projects across the country.
The PPI program supports projects deemed as strategic mineral projects for Brazil.
According to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the Policy acknowledges a strategic priority dimension to the projects carefully selected by the Inter-ministerial Committee of Analysis of Strategic Minerals Projects – CTAPME, providing the titleholder with specialised governmental support for the development of their projects.
“The selection of the Jaguar Nickel Project as a strategic mineral project is further demonstration of the project’s global significance and its strategic importance to Brazil.” Centaurus Metals managing director Darren Gordon said.
“We applaud the Brazil government for introducing such a strong initiative for mineral projects considered to be of strategic importance to the country.”
Centaurus Metals soon followed up the announcement by reporting new results from ongoing resource growth and development drilling at Jaguar, the results from which are expected to underpin further resource growth ahead of the completion of a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) and maiden Ore Reserve estimate due for completion by the end of calendar 2022.
Centaurus acquired the Jaguar project in the western portion of the Carajás Mineral Province of Brazil from Vale in April 2020, since which time the company has defined a Mineral Resource Estimate totalling 80.6 million tonnes at 0.91 per cent nickel for 730,700 tonnes of contained nickel.
The MRE is expected to underpin mine optimisation and production profile studies to be undertaken throughout 2022 that will determine the optimal mine capacity for the development of the project.
Any expansion of the processing plant capacity and/or production profile is likely to have a material positive impact on the project economics and delivery of nickel-in-sulphate, which currently stands at 20 million tonnes per annum for 13 years.
Email: office@centaurus.com.au
Web: www.centaurus.com.au
Directors: Didier Murcia, Darren Gordon, Bruno Scarpelli, Mark Hancock, Chris Banasik