Name of the Project
Jaguar nickel sulphide project.

Location
Carajás, Brazil.

Project Owner/s
ASX-listed exploration company Centaurus Metals.

Project Description
Jaguar is currently one of the biggest undeveloped nickel sulphide projects worldwide and a highly strategic potential source of unencumbered nickel concentrate product, particularly for the electric vehicle battery supply chain. 

The outcomes of the Jaguar Value Engineering Process (JVEP) were announced in May 2025. 

The JVEP considers only openpit nickel sulphide ore over an initial 15-year mine life, delivering nickel sulphide feed to a 3.5-million-tonne-a-year conventional nickel flotation plant to produce an estimated 18 700 t/y of recovered nickel metal. 

Total life-of-mine recovered nickel is estimated at 284 000 t.

Potential Job Creation
The development of Jaguar will provide job opportunities in and around the local municipalities. At peak construction, the workforce will comprise more than 1 200 people – 490 full-time operational personnel and about 630 mining contractor employees.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project delivers a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $874-million and internal rate of return of 38%, with a payback of 1.7 years.

Capital Expenditure
Preproduction capital expenditure, including growth and contingency, is estimated at $380-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Production is expected to start in 2029.

Latest Developments
Centaurus Metals has signed its first binding nickel offtake agreement with commodities major Glencore for production from the Jaguar project.

Under the agreement, Centaurus will supply 20 000 dry metric tonnes a year of high-grade nickel concentrate to Glencore for an initial five-year period, starting in 2029. The concentrate will be treated at Glencore’s Sudbury smelting operations, in Canada.

The contracted volume represents about one-third of Jaguar’s forecast production capacity of 65 000 t/y of nickel concentrate, equivalent to about 6 400 t/y of contained nickel.

Pricing under the agreement will be referenced to the LME cash settlement nickel price, with a variable nickel payability linked to the metal price. Payabilities have also been established for copper and cobalt by-products contained in the concentrate.

At current nickel prices, the agreement is estimated to be worth more than $450-million over the initial five-year term.

The agreement remains subject to several development milestones, including Centaurus' reaching a final investment decision by September 30, 2026, completing 50% of the project’s tailings dam construction by December 31, 2027, and achieving first concentrate production by January 15, 2029. Failure to meet these milestones could allow Glencore to terminate the agreement.

The agreement will help support Centaurus’ plans to develop a low-cost supply of nickel from Brazil.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Centaurus Metals, tel +61 8 6424 8420 or email office@centaurus.com.au.