Cerro Matoso mulls processing Guatemalan ore

Perth-based South 32's Colombian subsidiary Cerro Matoso is evaluating importing nickel ore from Guatemala to support ongoing operations in the South American country.

Cerro Matoso is drawing up a pilot plan to process imported nickel, with the aim of attracting investment to modernize and expand its Montelíbano plant in Colombia’s Córdoba department, local daily Portafolio reported.

“The first thing is to establish through testing from which country the ore would be brought,” Cerro Matoso CEO Ricardo Gaviria said. “It could be Guatemala.”

The pilot scheme would see 60,000-90,000t of ore imported to be mixed with that produced by Cerro Matoso.

Guatemala has large deposits of nickel, Gaviria added, and could provide ore when reserves at Cerro Matoso are exhausted.

The pilot scheme, if adopted, would begin operating in 2H22, he said.

Solway Investment Group has the Fénix nickel operation in Guatemala.

A suspension of mining at Fénix is expected to be lifted early in 2022 after a court-ordered consultation with indigenous communities concluded this month.

Switzerland’s Solway has mining rights to 36.2Mt of ore reserves at 1.86% nickel at Fénix, as well as rights to an additional 70Mt within its license area, according to information on the company’s website.