Cadence Minerals (KDNC) says the contractual and regulatory documentation which will allow the company to vest its 20% interest in the large-scale Amapa iron ore mine is proceeding as planned and that it currently expects to finalise this in the first two weeks of February 2022.
In an update released today, the Company told investors that it has already begun work on the next investment phase to earn an additional 7% of the Amapa project for a total of US$3.5 million. These funds will be primarily used to progress the pre-feasibility studies on the asset.
It said the PFS is progressing ‘as expected’, with engineers for the mine operations, ore reserve estimation, metallurgy, processing and shipping identified and in the process of being appointed. The rail logistic study has been completed in draft form, and is being reviewed.
To supplement its team at the Amapa, Tony Cau, a Civil Engineer with 40 years of global experience in the metals processing and engineering industry, has been appointed as the PFS project director. To date, Tony has worked for internationally recognised consulting and operational firms, including SNC-Lavalin, Bateman Engineering, BHP Billiton and Ausenco.
Meanwhile, in September 2021, Cadence announced that Castillo Copper had entered a 90-day option agreement with Lithium Technologies Pty Ltd ("LT") and Lithium Supplies Pty Ltd ("LS") in which Cadence owns a 31% shareholding, to acquire the Litchfield and Picasso Lithium Projects in the Northern Territory (NT) and Western Australia (WA) respectively.
Today, Cadence said LT and LS have informed the company that the board of CCZ and LT & LS, respectively, have mutually agreed to unwind the Option Agreement. As part of the break agreement terms, the A$50,000 deposit has been returned to CCZ, the company explained.
Commenting, Cadence Minerals CEO, Kiran Morzaria, told investors: that “Work has already started on the next investment phase to take Cadence up to 27% ownership of Amapa.”
He highlighted that Tony Cau’s experience will be “invaluable” to the Company as Amapa undergoes recommissioning, and he joins the asset “at an exciting phase of its development."
"In regard to the Litchfield and Picasso option with Castillo, given the recent increases in lithium compound pricing to over US$40,000 per tonne of battery grade lithium carbonate, and the pending analysis of the assay results, we see the unwinding of this option agreement as an opportunity for Cadence to extract a higher valuation for these prospective assets.”
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Today, Cadence Minerals has released a new online presentation and a Q&A session answering investor questions. The Company covers plans and forecasts for Amapa, the Gafeng relationship, as well as updates on its other joint ventures. You can find the video here.