(Alliance News) - Cadence Minerals PLC on Monday said its joint venture company Pedra Branca Alliance, alongside DEV Mineracao SA,have signed an accord for the Amapa iron ore project in Brazil.

Shares in Cadence Minerals surged 67% to 8.05 pence each in London on Monday afternoon.

Cadence Minerals is a London-based investor backing mineral resource assets. It said it signed the memorandum of understanding with Sinoma Tianjin Cement Industry Design & Research Institute Co Ltd, which is a wholly-owned subject of Sinoma International Engineering Co Ltd.

Cadence Minerals said the MoU follows ongoing discussions between the parties to progress the development of the Amapa project jointly.

Under the MoU, Sinoma Tianjin will provide a final proposal to complete the definitive feasibility study, and on completion, will submit a fixed price engineering procurement and construction contract for the Amapa project.

Cadence Minerals said the services provided by Sinoma Tianjin are subject to both the services being provided on a competitive basis and to Pedra Branca Alliance and DEV Mineracao's commercial evaluations and approvals.

Sinoma Tianjin will appoint the general engineering procurement and construction contractor to the project once these approvals have been granted and funding from Sinoma is secured.

"From a strategic standpoint, for Cadence and [Pedra Branca Alliance], the MoU with [Sinoma Tianjin] represents a potential one-stop shop solution, coupling our requirements for final project funding with engineering, construction and technical expertise. Following this, our next steps will be the completion of the remaining optimisation studies followed by the DFS," said Cadence Minerals Chief Executive Officer Kiran Morzaria.

"Our investment to date has resulted in an increased shareholding, which now stands at 32.6%, and I am both pleased and proud that having first submitted a judicial restructuring plan to creditors in 2019, we are now making rapid progress. I and my colleagues look forward to the completion and recommissioning of this substantial project."

As of September 30, Cadence's total investment in the Amapa project stood at around USD12.1 million.

By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News reporter

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