en.Wedoany.com Reported - British mining investment company Cadence Minerals announced on August 10 that the renovation of the Azteca processing plant under its Amapá Iron Ore Project in the state of Amapá, Brazil, has reached 87% completion, up 10 percentage points from the 77% reported on July 27, in line with the planned schedule. Cadence maintains its target of completing the renovation by August 31, 2026, but commercial operations and product shipments remain subject to the successful commissioning and the receipt of an operating license.

The Azteca processing plant is the near-term focus of the phased restart plan for the Amapá Iron Ore Project. According to the project announcement on July 7, the weighted physical progress of the processing plant stood at 47.8% as of July 2, exceeding the planned progress of 41.0%; it rose to 77% on July 27; and has now further increased to 87%. The renovation work is being carried out under an installation permit, and the current phase does not permit commercial operations or shipments. Cadence disclosed that, as of the end of May 2026, its cumulative investment in the Amapá project amounted to approximately US$16.1 million, corresponding to a 36.2% equity interest in the project.

Once completed, the Azteca processing plant is expected to produce 380,000 to 400,000 tonnes of iron ore concentrate per year, with the potential to gradually increase to 5.5 million tonnes of iron ore concentrate per year. As the first step of the phased restart, Azteca plans to utilize existing tailings to generate early cash flow at a scale of approximately 380,000 tonnes per year of iron ore fines with an iron grade of approximately 65%, supporting the subsequent development of the project.

The Amapá Iron Ore Project is an integrated iron ore project with existing mine, railway, port, and beneficiation infrastructure. The announcement shows that the project has JORC-compliant mineral resources of 276 million tonnes at 38% iron grade, and proven and probable ore reserves of 195.8 million tonnes at 39.34% iron grade. The pre-feasibility study released in December 2024 indicates that the project has the potential to produce 5.5 million tonnes per year of direct reduction-grade iron ore fines at 67.5% iron grade, with an after-tax net present value of US$1.97 billion and a mine life of 15 years.