West Perth-based Mirabela Nickel Ltd will spend a further $68 million on its Santa Rita nickel project in Brazil to increase the production rate by 40 per cent.
The mining hopeful said today that the project is now being engineered and constructed for a 6.4 million tonne per annum throughput capacity, up from 4.6Mtpa, to produce 27,000tpa of nickel in concentrate.
The estimated capital cost of the revised project is $US387 million ($A408 million) which includes plant, infrastructure, land acquisition, port upgrades and contingency.
Previously the project's capital cost was pegged at $US322 million ($A340 million).
"A production rate of 27,000tpa of nickel positions Mirabela to become one of the largest independent nickel production in the world and we are currently studying the possibility of additional capacity from an underground operation," managing director Nick Poll said.
Construction of the project is 50 per cent complete and first production is scheduled for mid-2009.
