Centaurus agrees JV to develop Brazil's Itapitanga project

West Perth-based Australian firm Centaurus Metals has entered into a binding earn‐in joint venture with fellow battery metals processing company Simulus regarding the former's Itapitanga nickel‐cobalt project in northern Brazil.

In a release on Tuesday, Centaurus said the deal will cover Itapitanga's development, where the company made a significant nickel‐cobalt discovery this year.

As per the deal, "Simulus can earn up to an 80% interest in the project and will manage it through various study phases utilising its extensive in‐house capabilities for process design on nickel‐cobalt projects with the ultimate aim of delivering a low capital intensity process design under a definitive feasibility study for a 250,000‐750,000t/y project."

"Centaurus will be free‐carried throughout the various exploration, resource evaluation and feasibility phases until project financing is arranged and a decision to mine is made," the release reads.

Centaurus managing director Darren Gordon stated that the JV with Simulus is a genuine game-changer for the project and demonstrates the quality of the Itapitanga asset and completely de‐risks its exploration and evaluation stage, with Centaurus free‐carried right through to a development decision.

"This is a great partnership which should ultimately give us the best possible chance of delivering a highly profitable project in the shortest period of time to take advantage of the favourable market outlook for nickel and cobalt," Gordon added.

Itapitanga covers an area of approximately 50km2 and is located in northern Brazil's Carajás mineral province, close to assets belonging to local mining giant Vale and multinational resources group Anglo American.