Horizonte receives Water Permit approval for commercial Mining and Processing operations at Araguaia

LONDON, April 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Horizonte Minerals Plc, (AIM:HZM) (TSX:HZM) ('Horizonte' or 'the Company') is pleased to announce that it has been granted the definitive Water Permit (Outorga in Portuguese), for industrial water consumption at the planned Araguaia Nickel Project (‘Araguaia’) by the Brazilian Pará State Environmental Agency (‘SEMAS’). The Water Permit, granted to Horizonte’s wholly owned subsidiary, Araguaia Níquel Metais Ltda., is another key permit and brings the Company closer to its objective of being ‘construction-ready’, by the end of 2018.

Highlights

• SEMAS has approved the Water Permit for abstraction and industrial use at Araguaia;
• The permit guarantees access to water, required for the full-scale commercial operation at Araguaia, including mining and beneficiation plant activities;
• The approval of the Water Permit further de-risks Araguaia, as it ensures that the project will have sufficient water to conduct open-pit mining operations and operate the process plant continuously for 24 hours a day, 365 days per year;

Horizonte CEO, Jeremy Martin, commented:

“The approval and award of the water permit is another significant milestone in the development of the Araguaia Project. The availability of water for mining projects is a key risk in many countries, the permit guarantees the Company access to the water required for the mining and processing to produce 14,500 tonnes of nickel per year.

Elsewhere on the project we are working towards the completion of the Feasibility Study due mid-year, together with advancing the final permits required to ensure the project is construction ready and moving forwards with strategic initiatives relating to the project financing."

Details on the Water Permit

Horizonte has conducted multiple years of baseline environmental data collection in the region, including flow monitoring of the Arraias River. Water is planned to be pumped from the Arraias River through a pipeline approximately 11 km to the water cooling dam which will be located beside the Araguaia beneficiation plant.

Environmental Resource Management (‘ERM’) consultants in the United Kingdom developed an integrated water balance hydrological model with input from the other FS consulting groups and Horizonte’s engineering team. The water balance reflects the seasonal conditions of northern Brazil and ensures water requirements are met for continuous running of the process plant during 24 hours a day over the Life of Mine. Araguaia’s planned operation includes a closed-circuit system and the Company aims to recycle between 80%-90% of the total water used in the process.

Infrastructure layouts were designed to take advantage of the topography and drainage systems in the region, thereby further increasing the sustainability of the project. Details of infrastructure layouts will be released in the FS, due to be announced in mid-2018.

The Water Permit is designed to regulate Araguaia’s water consumption for commercial mining operations and the Permit sets out the conditions and requirements for us to continue to successfully protect the environment in which we operate. Horizonte is continuing its discussions with SEMAS to progress additional permits necessary to commence construction of the Araguaia project.

The abstraction limits specified in the Water Permit allows for the required water consumption, including contingency, envisaged in the Feasibility Study.

The Araguaia Nickel Project
Araguaia, which is 100% owned by Horizonte, is located on the eastern margin of the State of Pará, north-eastern Brazil, in the Municipal of Conceição do Araguaia (population of 46,206), south of the main Carajás Mining District.

The region has good infrastructure in place including rail, road, water and power. Araguaia plans to produce around 14,500 tonnes of contained nickel in approximately 50,000 tonnes of ferronickel per year from processing 0.9 million tonnes of ore via the proven and widely utilized Rotary Kiln Electric Furnace (RKEF) process route.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.

For further information visit www.horizonteminerals.com or contact:

Contacts:

Horizonte Minerals Plc
Jeremy Martin (CEO)
+44 (0)203 356 2901

Numis Securities Limited (Broker)
John Prior/James Black/Paul Gillam
+44 (0)207 260 1000

FinnCap Ltd (NOMAD & Joint Broker)
Christopher Raggett/ James Thompson /
Anthony Adams / Emily Morris
+44 (0) 20 7220 0500

Shard Capital (Joint Broker)
Damon Heath / Erik Woolgar
+44 (0) 20 7186 9952

Tavistock (Financial PR)
Gareth Tredway / Jos Simson / Barney Hayward
+44 (0) 20 7920 3150

About Horizonte Minerals:

Horizonte Minerals Plc is an AIM and TSX-listed nickel development company focused in Brazil, which wholly owns the advanced Araguaia nickel laterite project located south of Carajás and the Vermelho nickel-cobalt project located in the Carajás mineral district of northern Brazil.

The Company is developing Araguaia as the next major nickel mine in Brazil, with targeted production by 2021. The Project has good infrastructure in place including rail, road, water and power.

Horizonte has a supportive shareholder structure including Teck Resources Ltd., Canaccord Genuity Group, Richard Griffiths, Lombard Odier Asset Management (Europe) Limited, JP Morgan, City Financial and Glencore.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION

Except for statements of historical fact relating to the Company, certain information contained in this press release constitutes “forward-looking information” under Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the potential of the Company’s current or future property mineral projects; the success of exploration and mining activities; cost and timing of future exploration, production and development; the estimation of mineral resources and reserves and the ability of the Company to achieve its goals in respect of growing its mineral resources, and the realization of mineral resource and reserve estimates. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will be taken”, “occur” or “be achieved”. Forward-looking information is based on the reasonable assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that such statements are made, and are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to risks related to: exploration and mining risks, competition from competitors with greater capital; the Company’s lack of experience with respect to development-stage mining operations; fluctuations in metal prices; uninsured risks; environmental and other regulatory requirements; exploration, mining and other licences; the Company’s future payment obligations; potential disputes with respect to the Company’s title to, and the area of, its mining concessions; the Company’s dependence on its ability to obtain sufficient financing in the future; the Company’s dependence on its relationships with third parties; the Company’s joint ventures; the potential of currency fluctuations and political or economic instability in countries in which the Company operates; currency exchange fluctuations; the Company’s ability to manage its growth effectively; the trading market for the ordinary shares of the Company; uncertainty with respect to the Company’s plans to continue to develop its operations and new projects; the Company’s dependence on key personnel; possible conflicts of interest of directors and officers of the Company, and various risks associated with the legal and regulatory framework within which the Company operates. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.