LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY
48 investment opportunities . The revolution in skillsets needed by the sector will be driven by the majors betting on demand from the electric vehicle ( EV ) industry for battery metals to drive its fortunes . “ The current flavour of the month is copper ,” says Hill . “ But I see nickel , cobalt , graphite , lithium , vanadium , manganese , tin and REE ´ s as all being coveted by the technology sector in general .”
As a result of its complex political and social history , allied to geographical challenges , Brazil is largely un-explored by global standards . Less than 20 % of its area is geologically mapped in real detail ( better than 1:250k scale ) and as such many discoveries of large footprint bulk commodities , like the metals Hill mentions , have been recently found very close to infrastructure – Horizonte Minerals ’ Araguaia Nickel Laterite Project is a good example of this . “ This also highlights the potential to find major new deposits of the commodities that generally have smaller footprints such as gold , platinum and palladium ” adds Hill . Advances in remote sensing and airborne geophysics will allow serious explorers to fast track target genera-
“ If the National Mining Agency can demonstrate it is serious about attracting investment then I am quietly confident ”
— Jon Hill , Vice President , Geology & Exploration , Jaguar Mining
APRIL 2019