First production achieved at standalone nickel laterite heap leaching operation in Brazil

Following an 18 month construction and commissioning period, continuous nickel production has begun at privately held UK company Brazilian Nickel’s Piauí nickel project (PNP) in Brazil, which the world’s first stand-alone nickel laterite heap leaching operation. In 2016 and 2017, Brazilian Nickel successfully demonstrated large scale heap leaching, purification and recovery of nickel and cobalt from Piauí ore. The company has since expanded the existing demonstration plant to develop the PNP1000 operation.