Tag Archives: Bahia

ERG’s BAMIN iron ore project kicks into gear

Mine operation news, Mineral project development, Steel and iron ore, , , , , ,

Eurasian Resources Group says it is continuing to advance its BAMIN integrated iron ore mining and logistics project in Brazil with the planned commercial start-up this month of its Pedra de Ferro mine in Bahia.

Pedra de Ferro has an initial capacity of 2 Mt/y of high-grade iron ore with 65% Fe content, but, in full production, will be able to produce 18 Mt/y of ore.

At the same time as this, plans for the implementation of Porto Sul, a deep-water port complex that is part of BAMIN, also continue to advance.

Carried out by the State of Bahia and BAMIN, the initial works at the port (pictured) focus on the construction of the requisite infrastructure and access to the site. This phase of the work will generate 400 direct jobs and another 1,200 indirect jobs, according to ERG.

Overall, the BAMIN project is expected to see Bahia become the country’s third largest iron ore producer.

Benedikt Sobotka, CEO of ERG, said: “The start of operations at Pedra de Ferro is a fundamental step towards the full implementation of the project. Porto Sul, in addition to its strategic importance, will strengthen the local economy and support the growth of other sectors. While implementing the BAMIN project, we also aim to positively contribute to the economic and social recovery and help mitigate the long-term impact of the pandemic.”

Atlantic Nickel’s Santa Rita nickel project on the rebound

Base metals, Energy minerals, Mine operation news, Mineral project development, Mining finance, , , ,

Atlantic Nickel and Appian Capital Advisory say the first sale of nickel concentrate from the Santa Rita nickel sulphide re-start project, in Brazil, has been made, some six months after blasting activities recommenced.

Since blasting restarted in July, Atlantic Nickel has safely achieved several operational milestones on or ahead of schedule, it said. Refurbishment of the plant is complete, and the ramp-up of commissioning activities has resulted in early production of nickel concentrate. The company has produced over 11,000 t to date and is set to deliver its first shipment in January of 2020.

Santa Rita is an open-pit nickel-copper-cobalt sulphide operation located in Bahia, Brazil. It is a fully permitted, restart-ready, past-producing nickel mine benefitting from $1 billion of prior investment from previous owners such as Mirabela Nickel. The mine, which was placed on care and maintenance in 2015 by Mirabela, has an estimated production capacity of 6.5 Mt/y.

On the back of strong commercial interest, Atlantic Nickel and Appian have looked to establish relationships with a diverse set of offtake partners and, in line with this strategy, Atlantic Nickel has entered into a three-year offtake contract for a portion of Santa Rita’s production and a $40.8 million financing arrangement with Trafigura.

The company said: “The deal provides the remaining funding required for the restart of the project and establishes a strong relationship with a best-in-class global commodities trading firm.”

Following the announcement of recent drilling results, an updated open-pit reserve statement is planned for completion in the March quarter and the company expects to undertake further drilling in 2020 to continue to grow and define the long life underground resource potential. Production is expected to reach nominal annualised capacity in 2020.

Paulo Castellari, CEO Atlantic Nickel & Appian Brazil, said: “Today’s announcement further de-risks the project and I remain confident in Santa Rita’s prospects as a low-cost, long-life mine that is well positioned to benefit from the growth in electric vehicles to generate strong investor returns.”

Atlantic Nickel, the 100% owner of Santa Rita, was acquired by Appian in 2018.

South Star’s filtered tailings plan for Santa Cruz graphite project stacks up

Energy minerals, Environmental, Industrial minerals, Mineral exploration, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining safety, Water management, , , , , , ,

South Star Mining Corp’s aim of using a filter press and eliminating the requirement for a tailings storage facility at its Santa Cruz graphite project in Bahia, Brazil, has been given a boost following positive bench scale test results.

The Toronto-listed company said it had received positive results for the laboratory bench scale filtered tailings tests performed on two simulated tailings samples from Santa Cruz. Two tailings samples (+325 mesh and -325 mesh) were generated and tested in laboratory facilities in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, it said.

Five scenarios were completed for the leaf filter tests with various solids densities, feed rates, vacuum pressures, and cake thickness:

  • -325 mesh sample at 10% solids;
  • -325 mesh sample at 10% solids at higher feed rate and vacuum pressures;
  • -325 mesh sample at 20% solids;
  • -325 mesh sample at 20% solids with minimized cake thickness, and;
  • +325 mesh sample at 10% solids.

The tests resulted in cake with humidity varying between 23% to 35% and cycle times ranging from 19:23 to 49:47 minutes, according to the company. Based on the bench scale leaf tests, additional pilot tests are being performed to better quantify the range of possible solutions and also test a mixture of the +325 and -325 mesh materials to create a third sample type, the company said, adding that results of the pilot tests were expected shortly.

South Star said the goal of the testing programme was to examine the potential for altering the proposed flow sheet from the process circuit presented in the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) to include a filter press and eliminate the requirement for a tailings storage facility.

“By incorporating filtered tailings technology, the majority of the water from the tailings would be removed and recirculated and allow the dried tails to be placed together with waste rock in a co-disposal waste facility,” the company said.

South Star CEO, Eric Allison, said: “We are very pleased with these initial results from our filtered tailings test programme and their positive implications for utilising dry stack tailings at Santa Cruz for both our trial mining plant and the final full-scale facility. Co-disposal of the waste should not only reduce the project’s environmental impact, risk profile and physical footprint, but should streamline our permitting and licensing processes as well.”

The company plans to incorporate the results of the programme into the prefeasibility report scheduled for completion in the September quarter, it said.

The mid-2017 PEA on Santa Cruz outlined an indicated resource of 14.99 Mt at 2.70% Cg with 404,741 t Cg, and inferred resources of 3.57 Mt at 2.90% Cg with 103,591 t Cg. Graphite deposition at Santa Cruz is found at surface within oxidised material providing a very favourable strip ratio, and requiring no crushing or blasting, according to the company.

The PEA stated Santa Cruz has a post-tax internal rate of return of 78% and a payback period of two years. Mine planning for the existing graphite deposit outlined a 12 Mt mineable resource with a diluted grade of 2.63% Cg providing support for a 19-year open-pit mine. Life of mine average yearly production came in at 15,800 t alongside operating costs of $413/t.