Appian Capital in talks to sell Atlantic Nickel for $ 1 billion
When asked about this, a spokesperson for Teck told MINING.COM that the company does not comment on rumors or market speculation.
One of the largest open-pit nickel sulfide mines in the world, Santa Rita was operated by Mirabela Nickel for six years, before being placed under surveillance and maintenance due to low nickel prices in 2015.
Appian, which acquired the mine in 2018 from Mirabela Nickel as part of a bankruptcy process, is reportedly seeking to recoup the capital invested in bringing the old mine back to production into service, which happened early on. from 2020. The sum was estimated at $ 1. billion, says the company’s website.
Atlantic Nickel owns the Santa Rita mine, one of the largest surface nickel sulphide mines in the world.
The surface operations, which are expected to last until 2028, have an estimated annual production capacity of 16.5 ktpa of nickel in the sulphide concentrate. Santa Rita will then be turned into an underground mining operation, extending the life of the mine from eight to 34 years, Atlantic Nickel said.
According to a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) of Santa Rita published a year ago, the surface measured and indicated resources amount to 59.15 million tonnes grading 0.33% nickel sulphide, 0. 11% copper, 0.01% cobalt, 0.03 grams of palladium per tonne, 0.06 grams of platinum per tonne and 0.04 grams of gold per tonne.
Indicated resources for the underground mine total 54.59 million tonnes grading 0.58% nickel sulphide, 0.18% copper, 0.01% cobalt, 0.05 gram of palladium, 0.10 gram of platinum and 0.07 grams of gold.
Last week, the company shipped 11,121.44 tonnes of nickel concentrate, the largest quantity sold so far this year, and which brought annual exports to more than 80,000 tonnes.
The use of nickel is increasing in lithium-ion batteries and the accelerated deployment of electric vehicles is making certain types of metal popular with investors because it can be made into battery precursor materials.
The more traditional use of nickel is in the processing of stainless steel for kitchen appliances and utensils.
Analysts expect shortages of copper, cobalt, nickel and other industrial materials needed to transition to a low-carbon world, in part due to underinvestment in mining and mining. acceleration of demand.