Interview with Luis Azevedo, Chairman and CEO, Bravo Mining
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/bravo-mining-tsxvbrvo-double-grades-and-resource-up-to-236-million-tons-in-tier-one-pgm-deposit-7934
Recording date: 25th August 2026
Bravo Mining (TSXV:BRVO, OTCQX:BRVMF) is advancing its 100%-owned Luanga PGM+Au+Ni deposit in Brazil's Carajás Mineral Province through a Pre-Feasibility Study guided for Q3 2026, while simultaneously extending two secondary discoveries — a nickel-copper sulphide system at the Babylon target and an early-stage copper-gold exploration programme — that management believes could add materially to the project's long-term optionality.
The immediate news is a set of assay results from drill hole DDH26LU347 at Babylon, adjacent to Luanga's North Sector. The hole intercepted 13.4 metres at 1.55% nickel, 0.33% copper and 2.02 g/t PGM+Au (including a higher-grade 6.7-metre interval at 2.25% nickel and 3.14 g/t PGM+Au), plus a separate 6.0-metre interval grading 6.81 g/t PGM+Au. CEO Luis Azevedo characterises the nickel-copper result as evidence the deposit could ultimately support underground mining grades in addition to its established open-pit resource, with a large Induced Polarisation anomaly at roughly 700 metres depth now queued for follow-up drilling.
On the core PGM story, the PFS — pushed one quarter from Q2 to Q3 2026 — is being built around metallurgical testwork showing Jameson Cell flotation technology can lift platinum, palladium and gold recoveries by 5-10% and nickel recoveries by 5-30% against conventional Denver cells, while cutting mass pull by up to 50%. Glencore Technology has independently reviewed the metallurgical database and indicated it is prepared to issue performance guarantees on the assumptions. Azevedo argues the practical effect is a larger, more profitable pit rather than a simple recovery uplift, which is the stated reason the study needed the extra quarter.
Bravo held approximately $94 million in cash at the time of interview, which management says funds the PFS, permitting and 2026 drilling without near-term dilution. Beyond the treasury, the company has structured but not yet drawn on two further levers: an indicative $280 million offer for a portion of its gold credit, and an existing $300 million credit line from Orion. A PGM offtake has drawn interest from multiple parties but remains unpriced pending bankable feasibility numbers.
On permitting, Bravo already holds its preliminary licence and plans to submit for the Installation Licence within one to two weeks of the PFS release, targeting approval within six months to a year based on the company's track record with Brazilian regulators. A construction decision is targeted roughly six months after the PFS, with construction possible from mid-2028, pending a Q1 2027 resource update and a Q3 2027 Definitive Feasibility Study.
The 2025 PEA's vertically-integrated smelter scenario has also become more attractive: rising sulphuric acid byproduct pricing lifts that case's NPV from approximately $1.2 billion to $1.68 billion versus the base concentrate-sale case, though management has not yet decided on timing.
Separately, a copper-gold division led by 31-year Vale veteran Fabio Masotti is running IP surveying ahead of an 8,000-metre H2 2026 drill programme — a third, still unpriced source of optionality that management says could eventually support a standalone corporate structure if results warrant it.
Learn more: https://cruxinvestor.com/companies/bravo-mining
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