Centaurus Metals informs that it has taken another significant step towards the development of its Jaguar sulphide nickel project, in the Carajás region, after receiving technical approval of its Economic Assessment Plan (PAE) by ANM (National Mining Agency) .
According to the company, the technical approval of ANM’s Economic Assessment Plan (PAE) is an important validation of the Jaguar Project and allows the formal issuance of the Mining Ordinance to proceed after the issuance of the Installation License (LI) by the Environmental Agency.
The technical approval of the PAE indicates that all technical requirements were met in relation to the granting of the Mining Ordinance, as well as recognition of the Company’s capacity to implement the Project.
The issuance of the LI by SEMAS (Secretariat of Environment of the State of Pará) is now the final step required before the Mining Ordinance is formally granted.
The Company also informs that the Environmental Committee of the State of Pará (COEMA) approved the Environmental Impact Study (EIA) and the Company’s Preliminary License (LP), with the formal issuance and official publication of the LP now only subject to internal processes of the environmental agency. All documentation required by SEMAS for issuing and publishing the LP was completed and delivered, according to the company. “The approval process to date has been achieved within the company’s development timeline and comes shortly before the completion and delivery of the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS).”
The PAE and LP were approved based on a planned production rate of 20,000 t/year of sulfide nickel at the Jaguar Project site.
The final presentation of the EIA took place in early January 2023, following the release of the November 2022 JORC Mineral Resource Estimate, which significantly increased the size and scale of the Jaguar Project. A large amount of environmental and social data was collected over an 18-month period prior to the preparation of the original EIS.
The LP is a fundamental approval for the Company and the Jaguar Nickel Sulphide Project, as it certifies that the general definition of the project is environmentally and socially correct. “Historically, it is the most challenging stage of the environmental approval process in Brazil and, as such, the Company looks forward to the formal issuance and official publication of the LP.”
Once the LP is published, the Company will be in a position to begin the next stage of the environmental approval process with SEMAS, which is the presentation of the Installation License Request (“LI”). This takes the form of a document called the Environmental Control Plan (“PCA”).
Following approval of the LI, the Company will have all necessary environmental approvals to begin construction at the Jaguar Nickel Sulphide Project site and this will also allow the Mining Ordinance to be formally issued (discussed above).
The Company expects to obtain the Installation License in the second half of 2024.
Commenting on the receipt of several important approvals, Centaurus General Director, Darren Gordon, said that “the technical approval of the Economic Analysis Plan (PAE) by ANM is an important milestone for the Company and the Jaguar Nickel Sulfide Project. When combined with the approval of the Environmental Impact Study and the Preliminary License (LP) by the Environmental Committee of the State of Pará, it is clear that the Company is progressing well from a regulatory and approval point of view for the next stages of project development. Having secured LP approval just 12 months after submission of the final EIA is a testament not only to the hard work carried out by our Brazilian approvals team, but also to the strength of the Brazilian approvals system – which supports the development of mining in projects that have been extensively studied from an environmental perspective and have strong environmental management systems and controls in place or planned.”
The Jaguar deposit contains measured and indicated resources of 86.6 million tonnes of ore grading 0.85% Ni, equivalent to 737,800 tonnes of contained nickel.