Resource Company
Aguia Resources Limited (TSX:V.AGRL, Forum) has a primary focus on the exploration and development of mineral resource projects in Brazil.
The Company’s main projects are situated in one of Brazil’s prime farming regions - the state of Rio Grande do Sul, which is entirely on imports to meet its phosphate fertilizer requirements. Located in the south of the country, roughly 350 k. from the state capital Porto Alegre, its Rio Grande deposits consist of a number of deposits: Três Estradas, Joca Tavares, and Porteira, carbonatite-hosted phosphate as well as the Cerro Preto sediment-hosted phosphate. The phosphate deposits found in the Rio Grande are known to possess a high quality and low-cost production characteristics. The region is well serviced with roads, rail, electricity and port infrastructure. Major fertilizer blenders are located just 200 km away at the Rio Grande Port.
There are currently no phosphate mines in the area, and none are scheduled to be constructed in the foreseeable future … other than Aguia’s planned development of the Três Estradas phosphate deposit, Aguia has also signed option agreements on a number of neighbouring properties which are currently being explored with the potential to add to the life of the Três Estradas mine.
The audited mineral resource estimate conducted on the Três Estradas project identified 83 million tonnes of measured and indicated material with an average grade of 4.1% P2O5 using a cut-off grade of 3.0% of P2O5. The estimate also identified 21.8 million tonnes of inferred material with an average grade of 3.67% P2O5. 79% of the resources contained within the optimized pit shell are measured and indicated with the remaining 21% of the resource classified as inferred resource.
Aguia Resources is currently planning an open-pit, truck and shovel operation at the Três Estradas project. The life of the mine is expected to be 36 years of operation, broken down into 16 years, plus 20 additional years of aglime production from reclaimed tailings.
(Aguia’s Três Estradas project.)
The average annual feed to the processing plant is projected to be 1.3 million tonnes of oxide ore in Phase 1, and 3.3 million tonnes of fresh carbonatite ore in Phase 2, resulting in a life of mine production of 4.7 million tonnes of phosphate concentrate and another 32.9 million tonnes of aglime, averaging about 300,000 tonnes of phosrock annually over 16 years and one million tonnes of by-product aglime annually over 33 years. The relatively steeply dipping and confined nature of the deposit, as well as the drive to optimize project value through early development of the saprolite ore, leads to a decreasing strip ratio after Year 4. A notable advantage for the Company’s operations here is the significantly lower logistics cost to deliver phosrock to the fertilizer blenders at the Port compared to imports and a low CAPEX to build of $84 million (USD), which includes an $8 million contingency.
The next major milestone for the Company will be to secure approval for an Environmental Impact Assessment from the State environmental regulator which will result in the granting of Preliminary License, a major de-risking event for Brazilian mining projects.
For more on this project, watch the video below:
(Aguia Resources corporate video.)
Aguia Resources boasts an established and experienced technical team based in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, as well as corporate offices in Sydney, Australia. Its management team has a proven track record of advancing high quality mining assets to production in Brazil.
In addition to its deep phosphate resources, Aguia is also an emerging player in the
copper game. It has staked 23 tenements, totaling 340 sq km (34,000 hectares), within the prolific Rio Grande Copper Belt Mineralization. This zone is home to a 100km long x 60km wide belt with historical production from iron oxide copper gold deposits. This is big news for the Company, as the geological environment is highly prospective and includes; the past producing Camaqua copper mine, a new Zn-Pb project currently being licensed by
Nexa Resources (Votorantim Group) and the Andrade copper deposit owned by Brazil-based Referential.
Investors will want to keep their eye on this Company as major news is expected in the coming weeks regarding the exploration and development of its copper mining assets.
FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a paid article produced by Stockhouse Publishing.