Cadence Minerals enters binding deal to advance Amapa venture

Cadence Minerals has entered into a binding settlement agreement with the secured bank creditors of DEV Mineração, the owner of the Amapa iron ore project in Brazil, it announced on Wednesday.

The AIM-traded firm said the agreement’s execution was “the last major precondition” for Cadence to vest its initial $2.5m for 20% of the large-scale Amapa iron ore mine, beneficiation plant, railway and private port.

Previous owner Anglo American had valued its 70% stake in the Amapa Project at $866m, and impaired the asset in its 2012 annual accounts to $462m.

Cadence said the execution of the settlement agreement with the secured bank creditors of the project would allow its 20% and Indo Sino's 80% joint venture to secure 100% ownership of Amapa.

The company said the restructuring of the secured and unsecured creditors achieved by the agreement and the judicial restructuring process had “more than halved” registered creditor balances.

Cadence said it had already started the next stage of its investment in Amapa, to increase its stake to 27%, with pre-feasibility studies ongoing.

“This is indeed a momentous day for Cadence, Indo Sino, DEV, the government of Amapa, the legal teams and bank committees and administrators who have worked tirelessly, Covid-19 notwithstanding, to finalise the final and perhaps the most lengthy part of the judicial restructuring plan agreed back in 2019,” said non-executive chairman Andrew Suckling.

“Having achieved what we set out to do, the work really starts in earnest.

“Bringing Amapa back to life has created a raft of new opportunities for the region and its community, with improved prospects for employment, health and education.”

Suckling said the opportunity was “simply huge”.

“Amapa was once owned by Anglo American, and we fully intend to restore the mine and infrastructure to its former glory, and more besides given that we intend to produce a higher quality product mix.

“Even now, the value of this transaction is only starting to register with the markets, something I truly believe will change dramatically in the coming years.”

At 1112 GMT, shares in Cadence Minerals were up 28.1% at 24.98p.