Glencore-backed nickel miner’s shares Horizonte Minerals crash 62 per cent on project warning
Shares in AIM-listed nickel miner Horizonte Minerals, which is backed by sector giant Glencore have plummeted today after the company said it will require nearly 90 per cent more funding than expected to complete its flagship mining project.
Horizonte Minerals saw its share price fall 87 per cent to 3.21p after the company yesterday said the Araguaia mine in Brazil would cost $1bn (£791m) to complete against the initial $537m (£434m) projected.
The company’s interim chief executive Kasim Masr said that despite the massive cost-to-complete rise, the project is “now built on solid methodologies,” but that the firm still needs to find the money to complete the contract, an endeavour that has “no guarantee of success.”
This isn’t the first time Horizonte has issued a warning about the project.
In October last year, the stock plunged 87 per cent when the group revised cost estimates higher on the mine by 35 per cent and pushed back initial production until the third quarter of 2024.
After the latest delay, the company is now targeting 2026 as the earliest production date.
The company also announced today that Graham Crew will replace Maryse Bélanger as interim chief operating officer.
The news is a big blow to the company’s second-largest shareholder, mining giant Glencore, which has already experienced its fair share of nickel woes in recent weeks.
The Swiss multinational has built up a 17.7 per cent stake in the firm and it has already trimmed its own nickel production guidance this year.
Glencore is set to report its annual results tomorrow.