REG - Horizonte Minerals - Horizonte Publishes 2021 Sustainability Report

Horizonte MineralsAnnouncement

20/05/2022 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20220520:nRST1772Ma&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 1772M  Horizonte Minerals PLC  20 May 2022

NEWS RELEASE
 

20 May 2022

 

Horizonte Minerals Plc

("Horizonte" or the "Company")

 

Horizonte Publishes 2021 Sustainability Report

 

Horizonte Minerals Plc (AIM: HZM, TSX: HZM) is pleased to announce that it has
published its 2021 Sustainability Report. The Sustainability Report is
Horizonte's third such disclosure and has been prepared in accordance with the
Global Reporting Initiative Standards 'Core' option.

 

Jeremy Martin, Chief Executive Officer of Horizonte, commented:

"At Horizonte, we understand that value generation is inherently linked with
sustainability. Nickel is a critical metal in the clean energy transition with
demand growing at an unprecedented pace. The production of nickel, however,
comes with environmental and social impacts. To balance these, in 2021 we
commenced technical studies and programs that will help us to design controls
so that wherever possible, we manage these risks whilst enhancing the outcomes
of the many benefits that our operations will bring.

"Sound sustainability performance and transparent disclosure are key to
success and must be pursued to achieve our goals. As we advance the
construction of Araguaia our systems for governance and reporting will also
evolve, as key tools for delivering confidence and building strong and
respectful relationships with our stakeholders.

"Our comprehensive approach to sustainability has been an instrumental
component of our success in securing project financing from a suite of leading
international banks and investors. This week we marked a major milestone with
the commencement of earthworks at Araguaia."

 

2021 Sustainability Report Highlights

In what was a transformative year for the Company, Horizonte is able to report
a number of major initiatives and achievements in regard to our overall
sustainability performance. The report discusses our programmes in support of
the Sustainable Development Goals and will be the future Communication on
Progress against the UN Global Compact.

 

Key highlights include:

§ Leading practices in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in
minimal impact to the Araguaia development timeline and, most importantly, no
lives lost to COVID-19 and no serious health outcomes across the workforce.

§ Horizonte maintained our record of no fatal injuries since inception
through mobilisation and commencement of early works at Araguaia. This
achievement was supported by the implementation of fatality prevention
standards and other critical risk control.

§ Implementation of a leading-practice integrated management system for
environment, safety, health and communities' management.

§ Achievement of 100% conformance to statutory and compliance obligations
including successful completion of major baseline monitoring campaigns for
Araguaia.

§ Consistent with our objectives for local content, 97% of our workforce in
Brazil are Brazilian nationals, 19% of which hail from Pará State, and 12% of
which hail from local host communities. Further supporting our objectives, we
launched programmes in early 2022 to strengthen local community capacity to
increase participation in direct and indirect economic activities associated
with Araguaia.

§ Gender diversity remained higher than mining industry norms, with 30% of
our workforce in Brazil and 38% of our United Kingdom workforce identifying as
female.

§ Aligned with our commitment to local development, over 80% of procurement
value was supplied by Brazilian companies in the year and 11% from Pará
State. New programmes launched in 2021 form part of the Company's strategic
endeavours toward enhancing local value retention.

§ Almost BRL 38 million of economic value was distributed in this
pre-production year in Brazil, highlighting the significance of Araguaia to
local and state economic development.

 

Ahead of the construction of Araguaia, the 2021 sustainability report
incorporates preparatory information that will enable the Company to report
against the United Nations Global Compact, the Sustainability Accounting
Standards Board (SASB) Metals and Mining Standards, the Extractive Industries
Transparency Initiative and Mining Local Procurement and Reporting Mechanism,
from 2022. The report is available on the Company's website at:
http://www.horizonteminerals.com (http://www.horizonteminerals.com)

 

 

For further information, visit www.horizonteminerals.com
(http://www.horizonteminerals.com) or contact:

 

 Horizonte Minerals plc                                                     info@horizonteminerals.com (mailto:info@horizonteminerals.com)

 Jeremy Martin (CEO)                                                        +44 (0) 203 356 2901

 Peel Hunt LLP (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker)                           +44 (0)20 7418 8900

 Ross Allister

 David McKeown

 BMO (Joint Broker)                                                         +44 (0) 20 7236 1010

 Thomas Rider

 Pascal Lussier Duquette

 Andrew Cameron

 Tavistock (Financial PR)                                                   +44 (0) 20 7920 3150

 Jos Simson

 Cath Drummond

 

 

About Horizonte Minerals:

Horizonte Minerals plc (AIM & TSX: HZM) is developing two 100%-owned, tier
one projects in Pará state, Brazil; the Araguaia Nickel Project and the
Vermelho Nickel-Cobalt Project. Both projects are large scale, high-grade,
low-cost, low-carbon and scalable. Araguaia is fully funded and in
construction. The project will produce 29,000 tonnes of nickel per year to
supply the stainless steel market. Vermelho is at feasibility study stage and
will produce 25,000 tonnes of nickel and 1,250 tonnes of cobalt to supply the
EV battery market.  Horizonte's combined near-term production profile of over
50,000 tonnes of nickel per year positions the Company as a globally
significant nickel producer. Horizonte is developing a new nickel district in
Brazil that will benefit from established infrastructure, including
hydroelectric power available in the Carajás Mining District.

 

 

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION

Except for statements of historical fact relating to the Company, certain
information contained in this press release constitutes "forward-looking
information" under Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking
information includes, but is not limited to, the ability of the Company to
complete the acquisition of equipment as described herein, statements with
respect to the potential of the Company's current or future property mineral
projects; the ability of the Company to complete a positive feasibility study
regarding the second RKEF line at Araguaia on time, or at all, the success of
exploration and mining activities; cost and timing of future exploration,
production and development; the costs and timing for delivery of the equipment
to be purchased as described herein, the estimation of mineral resources and
reserves and the ability of the Company to achieve its goals in respect of
growing its mineral resources; the realization of mineral resource and reserve
estimates and achieving production in accordance with the Company's potential
production profile or at all. Generally, forward-looking information can be
identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans",
"expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled",
"estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate",
or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that
certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will
be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is based on
the reasonable assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management
made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current
conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management
believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that
such statements are made, and are inherently subject to known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results,
level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially
different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information,
including but not limited to risks related to: the inability of the Company to
complete the acquisition of equipment contemplated herein, on time or at all,
the ability of the Company to complete a positive feasibility study regarding
the implementation of a second RKEF line at Araguaia on the timeline
contemplated or at all, exploration and mining risks, competition from
competitors with greater capital; the Company's lack of experience with
respect to development-stage mining operations; fluctuations in metal prices;
uninsured risks; environmental and other regulatory requirements; exploration,
mining and other licences; the Company's future payment obligations; potential
disputes with respect to the Company's title to, and the area of, its mining
concessions; the Company's dependence on its ability to obtain sufficient
financing in the future; the Company's dependence on its relationships with
third parties; the Company's joint ventures; the potential of currency
fluctuations and political or economic instability in countries in which the
Company operates; currency exchange fluctuations; the Company's ability to
manage its growth effectively; the trading market for the ordinary shares of
the Company; uncertainty with respect to the Company's plans to continue to
develop its operations and new projects; the Company's dependence on key
personnel; possible conflicts of interest of directors and officers of the
Company, and various risks associated with the legal and regulatory framework
within which the Company operates, together with the risks identified and
disclosed in the Company's disclosure record available on the Company's
profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com (http://www.sedar.com) , including without
limitation, the annual information for of the Company for the year ended
December 31, 2020, the Araguaia Report and the Vermelho Report. Although
management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in
forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not
to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that
such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events
could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  MSCQKLFFLELEBBK