Cadence Minerals has secured a Licença Prévia (LP), or preliminary environmental licence, for the Amapá Mine in Brazil from the Secretaria de Estado do Meio Ambiente, Amapá’s state environmental agency.
The LP verifies that the mine’s environmental suitability, site location and design are acceptable for operating at its full planned capacity of 5.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of direct reduced-grade iron ore concentrate.
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This approval applies to open-pit mining, mineral processing, waste rock management and tailings storage facilities within the project’s current mining concessions.
The Amapá iron ore project is a fully integrated operation, with existing mine, rail, port and beneficiation infrastructure in place.
It contains a Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC)-compliant mineral resource of 276 million tonnes (mt) at 38% iron and a proven and probable ore reserve of 195.8mt at 39.34% iron.
The LP covers the full mine development plan rather than just an initial or temporary operating stage, providing regulatory assurance for the long-term mine layout that underpins Cadence Minerals’ phased redevelopment strategy.
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By GlobalDataIt also provides the key regulatory basis for permitting the Azteca processing plant, which is due to be recommissioned as the first production unit in the staged restart.
During the Azteca restart, ore is expected to be trucked and exported via an existing public port, meaning initial production can begin without waiting for rail infrastructure and a private port to be licensed.
The LP constitutes the first formal step in Brazil’s environmental licensing framework for the mine and marks a significant risk-reduction milestone for the project.
The subsequent phase is the Licença de Instalação (LI), or installation licence, which will permit construction, refurbishment and installation of mine infrastructure, including the processing plant and tailings facilities.
Cadence Minerals CEO Kiran Morzaria said: “This is a highly significant regulatory milestone for Amapá. The grant of the preliminary licence confirms environmental acceptance of the mine at its full intended scale and marks a decisive step forward in the project’s redevelopment.
“Importantly, the LP validates the complete mine plan and provides the regulatory foundation to advance the Azteca processing plant as the first step toward production. With this key de-risking milestone achieved, our focus now turns to securing the installation licence and progressing refurbishment activities in line with our staged development strategy.”
Advancement to the LI depends on meeting specific technical and regulatory conditions previously outlined by the company.
The key remaining steps include providing additional technical studies requested by regulators, such as archaeological assessments and engineering work.
The archaeological studies have been finalised and delivered to the Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional, Brazil’s federal cultural heritage authority.
Authorisations for water abstraction and effluent discharge have also been completed.
By the end of June 2025, Cadence Minerals had invested roughly $15.5m (£11.48m) in the Amapá project, corresponding to a 35.7% equity interest in the project.
