News

June 25, 2008

Horizonte Isn’t Lonely Down In South America, And With The Help Of Fairfax Hopes To Make New Friends In London Too

By Our Man In The City

Brazil might be a long distance from the London HQ of Horizonte Minerals but the junior exploration group shouldn’t feel lonely, it is keeping good company while it tries to prove that its Lontra target contains a significant amount of nickel. Xstrata is to the north of Horizonte, conducting a pre-feasibility study on Serra do Tapa. Teck Cominco is six kilometres to the east of Lontra with its Vila Oito nickel discovery. Votorantim Metais is just a bus ride away. So the Araguaia belt is certainly attracting the cream of the mining sector and it could be the making of Horizonte too if early-stage drilling results are anything to go by. “The Lontra project is developing nicely. It is a genuine grass roots discovery”, says managing director Jeremy Martin.

Work began on Lontra in March 2007. Horizonte has so far defined seven anomalies. Auger drill samples have found nickel grades as high as to 2.1%. A 50 metre diamond drilling programme began in May covering a large area. Mr Martin says the aim is to define 30 million tonnes at greater than 1% nickel in two of four target zones. He claims these two targets could have an in-situ value of US$75 million. “There’s the potential for the same amount in the other two targets,” he adds.

The plan is for...