[Ferro-Alloys.com] 

US International Development Finance issues letter of interest to Brazilian Nickel for up to $550m loan for Piauí nickel project

Brazilian Nickel Limited (“BRN” or the “Company”), a private company with primary nickel and cobalt production in Brazil using proprietary technology, is pleased to announce that the Company has received a letter of interest (“LOI”) from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (“DFC”) that expressed DFC’s interest in providing the Piauí Nickel Project (“PNP” or the “Project”) with a loan facility of up to US$550m representing almost 40 percent of the Project’s overall financing package.

The Project is an advanced-staged nickel laterite project located in the State of Piauí, Brazil. BRN’s successful application of heap leaching technology to nickel laterite orebodies is a materially less capital-intensive process than traditional high-pressure acid leaching (known as “HPAL”). Heap leaching therefore permits the exploitation of resources that cannot support the much higher capital burden of HPAL, giving BRN a competitive advantage.

The Project was also recently awarded the Nickel Mark in recognition of its environmentally and socially responsible practices. Additionally, with an average production rate of 27,000 tonnes per annum of nickel and 900 tonnes per annum of cobalt across the first 10 years of operation, BRN is on track to become a globally significant nickel producer that is well-positioned to provide non-PRC-controlled critical minerals for the developing EV supply chain, which now demands a low-cost premium product alternative with strong ESG credentials.

• [Editor:邢亚敏]