DEV Mineração S.A, an undertaking 36%-owned by Cadence Minerals (KDNC ), has completed hot commissioning of the Azteca processing plant at the Amapá iron ore project 30 days into the 45-day period permitted by the Amapá State Environmental Secretariat.
Hot commissioning ran from 23 September to 23 October 2026 on weekdays: two days of water-only tests, then tests with feed. DEV checked 164 operational items and made adjustments where required.
DEV filed the commissioning and Installation Licence compliance reports on 29 October 2026, completing the submissions requested for the Azteca operating licence application.
Commissioning ran on lower grade accessible feed, and the grade of the commissioning concentrate is not yet known.
The plant ran at roughly a third of operational feed capacity, within the 25%–50% commissioning range.
Approximately 6,200 wet tonnes of feed were processed and approximately 2,800 wet tonnes of concentrate were produced.
Feed and concentrate samples are with an accredited laboratory. Optimisation testwork on higher-intensity magnetic separation has been brought forward. Results are expected within four to six weeks.
An XRF laboratory is expected to be operational by the end of November 2026, returning feed and product iron grades within hours so that feed selection and spiral settings can be adjusted during operation.
The target of producing approximately 380,000 tonnes per annum of approximately 65% Fe concentrate is unchanged.
The Operating Licence remains pending. Commercial operations and shipments remain subject to its grant and conditions.
“On 28 September I said we would get it running, prove it, then improve it, and that we would finish commissioning well inside the 45-day window,” said Kiran Morzaria, Cadence’s chief executive.
“Against that: running, done in 30 days, on lower-grade feed than the plant will see in production. Proving: the plant, yes; the product, not yet. We ran on the feed we could reach rather than wait for access to the higher-grade material, so we could file for the Operating Licence sooner. We expect to prove the product on design-grade feed once we are licensed. Improving: started earlier than I said in September, with optimisation testwork underway and the site laboratory due by the end of November, the work has begun. “Commissioning is meant to find problems. Leaks and a failed pump motor cost us about five days. Both are fixed. The maintenance programme now underway deals with the rest. “We are using the licence review period, not waiting on it. The bridge deck is a third done and the access works are planned. In production we will know the grade of what goes in and what comes out within hours, not weeks. Our aim remains commercial production and a first shipment before the end of the year, subject to the licence.”
View from Vox
Priorities for the remainder of 2026 are the Operating Licence, access works to the higher-grade feed area, the site laboratory, bridge completion, and preparation for commercial production with the aim of first shipment before the year end, subject to timing of the Operating Licence. These are crucial times for Cadence, as commercial operation at Azteca would establish the beginnings of a new operating track record for Amapá and lay the foundations for a broader development of the overall project. That’s always been the plant, but with the re-start at Azteca moving towards the completion, it looks increasingly as though it will become a reality.