Horizonte Minerals PLC Announces Update on Araguaia Nickel Project Construction

HORIZONTE MINERALS PROVIDES UPDATE ON ITS ARAGUAIA NICKEL PROJECT CONSTRUCTION

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / October 2, 2023 / Horizonte Minerals Plc (AIM:HZM)(TSX:HZM) ("Horizonte" or the "Company"), the nickel company developing two Tier 1 assets in Brazil, announces today that it has made good progress in completing the final detailed engineering and construction design for Line 1 of its 100%-owned Araguaia Nickel Project ("Araguaia" or "the Project"). This work, along with a comprehensive cost review, has resulted in changes to the design and execution scope, which are expected to increase the overall capital expenditure requirement by at least 35% (of current capex budget) and delay first production to Q3-2024.

Given the progress made to date with construction, the value of the Araguaia Line 1 Project and the upcoming delivery of the Feasibility Study on Araguaia Line 2, the Company continues to have strong support from its major partners. The Company is working on a plan with its various financial institutions together with the cornerstone shareholders for a financing solution to complete construction.

Construction work on site continues to progress well with all key engineering drawings issued for construction. Ore stockpiling activities commenced last quarter, and ROM build-up is progressing to schedule. The rotary dryer is now in place, with all shells aligned for final welding. Construction of the 126km, 230kV transmission line is well advanced, with all pylons erected and 118km of conductor cable installed. Construction of the water storage reservoir is also well advanced, with the initial sections of the water abstraction pipeline positioned and foundations poured for the river abstraction pump station.

To de-risk the operation, the final detailed engineering work has added additional scope items linked to the major equipment packages, made several enhanced design changes from the original engineering study (including changes to the water abstraction pipeline design and water storage reservoir), and has identified the requirement for additional civil works and quantities. Additionally, changes have been required with selected suppliers who have not been able to deliver to the project timeframe, which has added further cost pressures.