Horizonte Minerals PLC has announced that it has entered into a five-year mining services agreement, thereby securing services for mining, stockpile generation, plant feeding and slag handling activities for its 100%-owned Araguaia Nickel Project in Brazil, where construction is underway and first production remains on track to commence in Q1 2024.

The contract has been awarded to Fagundes Construção e Mineração, a leading Brazilian company with a strong track record of providing mining services in Pará State. The five-year contract (with an option to extend for a further five years) Horizonte says is in line with its operating cost assumptions stated in the feasibility study, and “represents another key de-risking milestone, ensuring that the operational costs will be in the lower quartile of the nickel cost curve.”

Fagundes will provide a mining fleet consisting of over 70 units at any one time linked to the phase of mining sequence and seasonality, comprising leading brands in terms of safety, embedded technology, performance and reliability. The core mining fleet will include 45 t hydraulic excavators, 35 t dump trucks, 28 t articulated trucks and 18 t wheel loaders.

All services provided by Fagundes will comply with Horizonte’s health, safety and environmental standards (HSE), in addition to the current legislation. HSE was a core focus for the company during the tender and now the mobilisation process, with Horizonte able to select from a broad group of pre-qualified equipment operators active in the region.

Horizonte says its management will work closely with Fagundes to provide direction, governance and support as mobilisation of the mining services team is completed and pre-stripping activities begin in early Q2 2023.