06 Sep PROGRESS UPDATE ON BRAZILIAN NICKEL’S FINANCING INITIATIVES FOR THE PIAUĺ NICKEL PROJECT
Brazilian Nickel Limited (“BRN” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce an update in connection with the Company’s financing initiatives for the Piauí Nickel Project (“PNP” or the “Project”) located in north-eastern Brazil.
BRN’s financing strategy composes of three main sources of funding: (i) a limited recourse project financing, in the form of senior debt; (ii) partnership(s) with other equity investors, either through an investment in the Company or joint venture arrangements at the Project level; and (iii) a royalty instrument owned by Ecora Resources PLC (“Ecora”) which gives Ecora the option to invest a further $62.5m towards the construction of the full scale Project and thereby increase their gross revenue royalty to 4.25% (this will be at the point when plans for the construction of a processing plant with a nameplate capacity of 24kt or more of nickel per annum are implemented). Rothschild & Co has been engaged to act as the Company’s exclusive financial advisor in connection with the financing.
BRN’s debt funding strategy has been to target a syndicate largely consisting of government-backed lenders and the Company also remains in active discussions with other international government agencies and commercial lenders.
The lenders’ due diligence is at an advanced stage and progress is being made towards term sheet negotiations. BRN has appointed Micon to act as the Independent Engineer and Ramboll to act as the Independent Environmental and Social Consultant on behalf of the lenders. The Company has also engaged CRU to act as the Lenders’ Market Consultant to produce a detailed due diligence report and comprehensive analysis on the nickel and cobalt market fundamentals, including PNP’s target market dynamics, product quality and cost competitiveness.
BRN’s equity funding strategy has been premised on advancing discussions with globally renowned, western investors that have a strategic interest in the nickel industry and/or downstream battery value chain. These include mining groups, trading houses, nickel sulphate and cathode active material (“CAM”) producers, battery manufacturers and automobile original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”). The mixed hydroxide product produced by the PNP is a highly sought after product by end customers given its market leading specifications that make it ideal for use in the manufacture of batteries.
Furthermore, BRN’s largest shareholder, TechMet Ltd (“TechMet”), whose major shareholders include the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), recently announced an initial $180m investment from Qatar Investment Authority. This investment, by one of the world’s foremost Sovereign Wealth Funds, will help accelerate TechMet’s mission to become a leading global critical minerals company. TechMet continues to show strong financial support for Brazilian Nickel and the PNP’s development.
Commenting on the progress to date, Chief Executive Officer Mark Travers notes, “I am pleased by the level of interest and support we have experienced for the Project to date. Despite the significant headwinds in the nickel market, there has been a lot of interest in our high quality, low carbon product and consequently, we are very optimistic that we will have a fully financed project in 2025 with first production from the PNP targeted for 2028.”
About Brazilian Nickel Limited
BRN is a privately held UK company established in 2013 to develop nickel laterite heap leach projects worldwide, beginning with its flagship Piauí Nickel Project in Brazil. The BRN team are all highly experienced mining industry professionals with extensive experience in South America and worldwide. The team has been successfully developing the heap leaching of nickel laterites for over 20 years with a view to building a world class nickel and cobalt producing company.
About Piauí Nickel Project
Project Piauí Nickel is an advanced-staged nickel laterite heap leaching project located in the State of Piauí, Brazil. PNP will produce low carbon footprint nickel and cobalt through a heap leaching process that has been optimised by the Brazilian Nickel team. As part of the staged approach to the full-scale project, a small-scale project was commissioned in 2022, which allowed product qualification and further de-risking of the PNP. As the Company progresses to a full-scale operation, and due to its strong ESG credentials, including being the first project in Brazil to achieve Nickel Mark certification, Project Piauí Nickel is well positioned to provide critical minerals for the developing EV supply chain in the Americas.
For more information please visit the company website at www.braziliannickel.com, as well as following the company on X, LinkedIn and YouTube.