Mineralisation within the Fazenda Mirabela intrusion is considered to be an example of a magmatic nickel–copper sulphide deposit.

The Fazenda Mirabela intrusion, which hosts mineralisation at Santa Rita, is located within the Archean–Paleoproterozoic Itabuna–Salvador–Curaça orogenic (ISC) belt. It consists of a lowpotassium calc-alkaline plutonic suite of rocks that includes intercalated metasedimentary rocks, gabbro, and basalt. The Fazenda Mirabela mafic–ultramafic body intruded granulite of the ISC. The lower zone of the intrusion consists of olivine-rich cumulates, primarily dunite to harzburgite, and is capped by pyroxenite; the upper zone consists primarily of gabbroic cumulates, consisting of gabbronorites to norites.

The intrusion is oval-shaped in plan view, with outcrop dimensions of approximately 4.0 km by 2.5 km and original stratigraphic thickness of at least three kilometres. In cross-section, the intrusion extends to a vertical depth of approximately 1,400 m.

Three generations of deformation phases are recognised, including thrust duplexes, quartz–feldspar pegmatite dikes intruded into basement lithologies, and folding. The major alteration type is fracture or structurally controlled serpentinisation.

A significant laterite profile, typically 25 m thick, developed over the dunite–harzburgite lithologies, but is absent or poorly developed over other lithologies.

The Santa Rita deposit is characterised by th ........

The Santa Rita deposit is currently being mined by conventional open pit methods, and production is scheduled from 2023 to 2028. The open pit will be mined to a maximum depth of 320 m (164 m RL). Underground development would commence before the open pit is depleted so that there would not be a significant gap in feed to the process plant.

The Santa Rita mineralization extending below the open pit comprises a large tabular-to-massive deposit, striking north-south for over 800 m, dipping 50° to 55° to the east, extending to a known depth of approximately 1,100 m, and varying in thickness from 50 m to 150 m. The mineralization shows a trend for increasing grade and thickness with depth.

The 2023 PEA contemplates, at a conceptual level, an underground mine using sub-level caving (SLC) and producing at a rate of approximately 6.2 Mt/a. An SLC mining method was selected for the underground portion of the Santa Rita deposit based on the amenable geometry of the deposit and the productivity and cost advantages of SLC enabling greater exploitation of the Mineral Resource at a greater margin than more selective methods. The relatively wide deposit determined that a transverse drill drive orientation should be used.

Based on the estimated Mineral Resources, an underground mine life of approximately 28 years following two years of pre-production development is envisaged.

The Santa Rita open pit mining operation mainly encompasses a single larg ........

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