Brazilian Nickel appoints executives amid progress of US$1.2bn Piauí project

Brazilian Nickel named three new executives to oversee its operations as it advances with the development of a nickel and cobalt project in Piauí state.

The company appointed Patrick Boitumelo as chief operating officer, André Simão as chief financial officer and Jorge Tapia as project director.

"These appointments further strengthen the management team, bringing additional and complementary skills, as the company continues to progress the project towards construction," it said in a statement.  

In August, Brazilian Nickel unveiled details of its 6bn-real (US$1.2bn) investment plan for the project.

The new mine will produce an estimated 25,000t/y of nickel starting in 2026, in addition to 800t/y of cobalt as of 2027. Currently, the company produces 600t/m of nickel at its unit in Capitão Gervásio Oliveira, also in Piauí.

It has around 400 workers and the new mine is likely to generate 2,000 jobs during the construction phase, in addition to 800 during the operating phase.

Boitumelo joins Brazilian Nickel from Lundin Mining, where he was part of the executive leadership team and held the position of senior vice president for technical services and growth. He has also held senior positions at Vale, Rio Tinto and DeBeers.

Meanwhile, Simão was CFO at Brazil-focused Ferrous Resources, which acquired, developed and operated distressed mining assets, and was later sold to Vale. More recently, he structured and negotiated over US$100mn in structured finance for developing and acquiring new mining and technology assets at SJK Capital and Genesis Mining, as CEO and CFO. 

Tapia was previously project manager for Antofagasta Minerals’ MLP INCO and Antucoya projects, in Chile, and for AngloGold Ashanti’s La Colosa project in Colombia. His earlier work includes working as engineering manager at BHP’s Spence SX-EW project.