BRAZILIAN NICKEL
The Piaui Nickel Project in Brazil looks to change the nickel industry : Brazilian Nickel talks about revolutionising the nickel industry by building a strong legacy in Piaui
The relationship between a mining company and the local community or economy in which it operates is not something that should be taken for granted . For a company like Brazilian Nickel , enhancing , protecting and developing a sustainable future for the local community in Piauí is one of the most important aims of the business , second only to shaping the future of the nickel industry .
Brazilian Nickel formed in 2013 and began to develop the flagship Piauí Nickel Project , in the North Eastern Piauí state of Brazil . Over the last three years the company has fully integrated itself into the surrounding community , providing jobs , training and opportunities .
“ We want to be a local company , a
Brazilian company ,” says Mike Oxley , Managing Director of Brazilian Nickel .
“ We ’ ve made a real effort to try and balance employment from different towns and villages in our area so that we don ’ t just concentrate on one or another to truly maximise the benefit of a local network ,” he says .
For a UK company , heading into a foreign state can prove difficult for many reasons , not least that it can be met with detractors and dismissed as merely another ‘ foreign company ’ disrupting the local environment .
This is crucial to the success of the company and achieving the vision for the future .
“ This is the poorest state in Brazil and so we want to bring opportunities and jobs and wealth to this part of the country ,” says Anne Oxley , Brazilian
120 December 2016