Horizonte Minerals Plc announced that it has awarded the contract for the Environmental & Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the Company's 100% owned nickel cobalt Vermelho project ('Vermelho' or the 'Project') to Ramboll. Ramboll is a leading global consultancy firm with 300 offices worldwide, including Belo Horizonte. Ramboll's Impact Assessment services are based on both commercial understanding and technical rigour to deliver projects that are advanced, sustainable and provide value to society. Horizonte has previously worked with Ramboll on the hydrology for its Araguaia ferronickel project. The ESIA is an essential part of the permitting process for Vermelho and expected to lead to the award of the Preliminary Licence. As Vermelho is located within the Pará State, the technical agency responsible for reviewing the Environmental Impact Study and Report will be the Pará State Secretariat for Environment and Sustainability, SEMAS.Previous owner, Vale, conducted multiple environmental and social studies and reached a positive construction decision in 2015. The historical database created by Vale provides an excellent background and basis of the new sustainability studies. Horizonte is also optimising the engineering for Vermelho's dry-stack residue storage facility option. An additional benefit from the Project resulting from this optimisation is the production of a bi-product, kieserite fertilizer which will be sold commercially into the Pará state agricultural market.