Mining news flow was dominated by financing and portfolio-tidying moves rather than fresh discoveries, with three companies striking deals to fund or streamline production pipelines in Brazil, Peru and the Kalahari Copper Belt. Cadence Minerals led the pack with a fundraise to de-risk its Amapá iron ore restart, while Nativo Resources secured a project finance package that sent its shares surging, and Galileo Resources moved closer to completing a $3 million copper licence sale to a Sandfire Resources subsidiary.
Cadence Minerals raises £1.8 million to de-risk Azteca restart
Cadence Minerals (AIM:KDNC) has raised £1.8 million to accelerate infrastructure and optimisation work at its Azteca processing plant in Brazil, a move that lifted the shares 10% to 5.5p. Cadence holds a 36.2% indirect interest in the Amapá Iron Ore Project, where Azteca, a refurbished magnetic and spiral separation plant, is being commissioned to produce roughly 380,000 tonnes a year of approximately 65% iron ore concentrate. A separate retail offer of up to £0.45 million at 4.5p a share, matching the placing price, is expected to open shortly for eligible existing UK shareholders.
The company said Azteca's restart and initial working capital are already funded, but the fresh capital lets it bring forward repairs to the Pedra Branca do Amapari bridge, currently operating under temporary controls, with the goal of completing the works before first shipment. The funds will also back studies into higher mass recovery and throughput, alongside drilling to assess whether historic tailings can extend feed beyond the two-to-three years currently supported by stored Dyke 5 material. Cash preserved through the raise is earmarked to help fund the Definitive Feasibility Study, targeted to begin in 2027, and licensing for the port and railway underpinning Amapá's larger redevelopment, which envisages 5.5 million tonnes a year of 67.5% iron ore concentrate.
"Raising now allows us to bring forward the bridge works, with the objective of completing them before first shipment and reducing a known logistics risk," said Kiran Morzaria, chief executive of Cadence Minerals.
The financing is small in absolute terms but strategically targeted: rather than plug an operating shortfall, it buys down a specific logistics risk ahead of the plant's commercial debut. That matters for credibility as much as cash flow, Cadence has staked its near-term narrative on Azteca reaching hot commissioning at 25% to 50% of capacity, with commercial shipments still contingent on the grant of an Operating Licence. Removing the bridge as a bottleneck, and preserving capital for the DFS and licensing work behind the much larger 5.5-million-tonne expansion, tightens the case that Amapá can move from restart to scale-up without repeated cap-in-hand fundraises.
Nativo secures finance and equity deal for La Patona plant
Nativo Resources (AIM:NTVO), the precious metals company with gold mining and processing interests in Peru, has signed a conditional binding letter of intent with Chancery Royalty to fund completion of the Phase 1 La Patona gold ore processing plant, a deal that sent the shares up 90% to 0.38p. The package comprises $3.5 million of project finance, drawn in seven monthly instalments of $500,000 starting no later than 31 December, alongside a £600,000 equity subscription split into two tranches of £300,000 each at 0.21p per share.
In exchange for the project finance, Nativo will grant Chancery a 6% gross revenue share on gold produced at La Patona until Chancery has received the equivalent of 3,034 troy ounces, dropping to 1.5% for the remainder of the mine's life. Tranche A completes 60 days after the agreement and hands Chancery roughly 9.5% of the enlarged share capital; combined with Tranche B, due by the end of September, Chancery-related holders will control approximately 17.4% of the company. "This agreement provides the funding to take it through to production," said Stephen Birrell, chief executive of Nativo, while Jeremy Gray, chief executive officer of Chancery, said "Chancery's investment alongside the project finance also provides strong alignment as we progress La Patona and consider its future expansion."
The structure, cash plus a declining royalty plus a meaningful equity stake, signals a financier taking a genuine bet on production rather than a straightforward loan, and the near-90% share price reaction reflects relief that a funding path to completion now exists. With Chancery-related holders set to hold close to a fifth of the enlarged company, Nativo's shareholder register and its incentives roughly La Patona's pace to production are now closely tied to its new financing partner.
Oriole Resources sells Muratdere royalty
Oriole Resources (AIM:ORR), the gold exploration and development company focused on Central and West Africa, has sold its 1.2% net smelter return royalty over the Muratdere copper-gold project in Turkey to Ardent Metals LLC-FZ for total consideration of $1.2 million, with the shares up 3.3% to 0.31p. The payment is structured in three tranches of $400,000 each; Oriole has already received the first and transferred title to Ardent, with the remaining two instalments due by 19 March 2027 and 19 September 2027, and title reverting to Oriole should either payment be delayed.
Oriole operated Muratdere between 2005 and 2011, delivering a JORC-compliant inferred resource of 51 million tonnes grading 0.36% copper, 0.12g/t gold, 2.40g/t silver, 0.0125% molybdenum and 0.34 parts per million rhenium. It sold a 51% stake to Lodos in 2012 for $1.7 million, before further investment saw Lodos earn a 70% interest and complete a feasibility study in 2015, with Oriole's remaining equity converted into the 1.2% royalty in 2019. "We are pleased to announce the disposal of our non-core Muratdere royalty as the sale provides significant cash proceeds which can be devoted to funding the Company's important activities in Cameroon," said Martin Rosser, chief executive officer of Oriole Resources.
The disposal converts a long-dormant, non-core royalty into cash Oriole can deploy directly against its Cameroon exploration programme, tidying the balance sheet at a moment when the company's investment case rests entirely on West African gold assets rather than a legacy Turkish copper interest it exited operational control of well over a decade ago.
Galileo Resources clears way for $3 million Kalahari copper sale
Galileo Resources (AIM:GLR) said all conditions precedent have been satisfied under its conditional share purchase agreement covering two licences in the Kalahari Copper Belt, with the shares climbing 28% to 0.8p. The buyer is Metal Capital Exploration, a wholly owned subsidiary of ASX-listed Sandfire Resources, which is acting as guarantor for the $3 million deal.
Galileo entered the agreement on 15 June, and completion is now anticipated on or roughly 30 September, marking the final regulatory and contractual hurdle cleared before cash changes hands.
Satisfying the conditions precedent removes the principal execution risk that had kept the deal's completion uncertain since June, and with Sandfire standing behind the purchase as guarantor, Galileo now has a clear line of sight to a $3 million cash injection within weeks, a material sum against the company's current market value that strengthens its balance sheet ahead of whatever it targets next.
Tertiary Minerals outlines higher-grade zone at Mushima North
Tertiary Minerals (AIM:TYM) reported drill results from its Mushima North project in Zambia showing mineralisation extending beyond the current exploration target boundary, with the shares edging up 3.6% to 0.0725p. A new copper discovery was also identified at the project's Western Zone.
The results point to a larger mineralised footprint than previously mapped, giving Tertiary Minerals grounds to expand its exploration target at Mushima North as it works to define the scale of the copper system beyond the existing boundary.
