Centaurus Metals has completed the acquisition of the Jaguar Nickel Sulphide Project in Brazil’s Carajás Mining District from Vale, the company said. The company recently received the approval of the Brazilian National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) for the assignment of BNDES’ royalty interest in the Jaguar Project, allowing Centaurus and Vale to finalize all of the remaining steps required to close the transaction.
The agreement was announced back in August 2019. The consideration payable to Vale on closing for 100% acquisition of the Jaguar Project was a small upfront cash payment of US$250,000 and the transfer of the company’s greenfield Salobo West tenure. All closing steps have now been completed including the payment of the initial cash consideration and the transfer of the Salobo West tenure. The main component of the cash consideration is deferred and contingent on successful production from the project, which demonstrates Vale’s comfort in Centaurus’ technical skills and sustainable approach in Brazil to further explore and develop the Project, the company said.
Following the commencement of drilling in November 2019, Centaurus has already completed more than 8,500 meters (45 drill holes) of in-fill and extensional resource drilling along with some exploratory drilling.
Centaurus Managing Director Darren Gordon said the completion of the Jaguar transaction with Vale marked a historic milestone for the company on its growth trajectory to become a substantial international nickel sulphide developer.
“With the requisite BNDES approval secured, we were able to move quickly this week to finalize the closing of the transaction, continuing to build on the positive relationship we have developed with both BNDES and Vale during the formal approval process,” he said. “Given the scale of the project, the vast amount of historical data, which is available and the impressive results which have been generated by our drilling program so far, we are very optimistic about the potential of the Jaguar Project to deliver a robust maiden high-grade JORC Mineral Resource and drive a substantial re-rating of Centaurus over the coming months.”
