Centaurus puts Jaguar nickel project on the doorstep of construction

Jaguar moves from permits towards project financing

Centaurus Metals (ASX:CTM) is presenting Jaguar as a development-ready nickel project rather than a permitting story. The Brazilian operation has its mining lease, environmental approvals and national grid connection in place, while the company says basic engineering is complete and site establishment, road and bridge works are progressing.

The next step is considerably more consequential: closing the funding package and taking a final investment decision. Centaurus’ presentation points to a funding-package close in the fourth quarter of 2026, but the senior debt facility remains under negotiation and construction has not yet begun.

Glencore and CNGR commit to Jaguar production

Commercial backing is the project’s strongest recent milestone. Binding offtake agreements with Glencore and CNGR cover at least 60,000 tonnes a year of high-grade nickel concentrate, equivalent to about 18,500 tonnes of contained nickel, for the first five years from the planned start in the first half of 2029. The agreements cover 100% of forecast production over that initial period.

The offtake structure builds on the five-year nickel offtake announced in October, with Glencore and CNGR each committing US$20 million in strategic equity. Centaurus values the combined contracts at approximately US$1.15 billion a year at a nickel price of US$16,000 a tonne, although that figure is a spot-price calculation rather than revenue guidance. Pricing is linked to the London Metal Exchange nickel price, with copper and cobalt providing by-product credits.

A 15-year open-pit plan underpins the development case

Jaguar’s JORC Mineral Resource stands at 138.2 million tonnes grading 0.87% nickel, containing 1.20 million tonnes of nickel. The current reserve supports a 15-year conventional open-pit mine, comprising 52 million tonnes at 0.78% nickel and 406,100 tonnes of contained nickel.

Centaurus’ plan calls for a 3.5 million tonne-per-year processing plant producing a concentrate grading above 30% nickel. Average life-of-mine production is stated at 18,700 tonnes of nickel a year, with average process recovery of 70%. The company cites life-of-mine all-in sustaining costs of US$4.43 per payable pound, but the estimate remains exposed to construction, operating, commodity-price and execution risks.

Underground resources and Boi Novo offer later-stage upside

The presentation also points to 21.5 million tonnes grading 1.46% nickel beneath the current pits, including 15.5 million tonnes in the Measured and Indicated categories. Centaurus says an integrated mine schedule is required before determining the timing of any underground development, so the material represents potential mine-life extension rather than part of the current operating plan.

Separately, the company is advancing the Boi Novo copper-gold project in the Carajás Mineral Province, where it has identified multiple drill-ready targets. That exploration portfolio sits alongside, rather than inside, the Jaguar funding case: the Boi Novo drill targets remain an exploration opportunity, not a defined mineral resource.

Debt completion is the remaining financing test

Jaguar now has permits, a contracted power connection, planned production sales and strategic equity commitments. What it does not yet have is a completed senior debt facility or a final investment decision. Until those pieces are secured, the project remains a well-advanced development proposal rather than a mine under construction.

For shareholders, the immediate test is whether the commercial commitments can be converted into a fully funded, financeable construction plan without changes to capital costs, timing or project scope. Nickel prices will matter, but so will the terms and conditions attached to the debt and the outstanding strategic-equity tranches.