VANCOUVER (CP) -- The price tag of the deal, announced Monday, is $200 million.
"We are extremely pleased to have been able to successfully negotiate the sale of Pampa de Pongo in a challenging marketplace," Hendrik van Alphen, Cardero's president, said in a release.
"Pampa de Pongo is a world-class iron ore project, and we are very pleased to have been able to pass the project on to a major Chinese integrated iron and steel conglomerate that has not only the mining expertise required, but also the financial resources to move the project rapidly forward."
Added van Alphen: The future of commodity demand will be in the growing Asiatic region and, with this first step, Cardero is becoming part of this changing landscape. Chinese steel companies will become more integrated and Cardero sees the opportunity to become an important link as a premier discoverer of mineral deposits to feed the growing demand."
Under the agreement, the Chinese company will make an initial deposit of $10 million, with a final payment of $190 million due within nine months.
Cardero has iron ore assets in the Marcona district of southern Peru, the Baja region of Mexico and in Minnesota and explores for gold and precious metals in Argentina and Mexico. It has other projects it wants to develop, including the Pampa el Toro Iron Sands project and the Baja iron deposit.
In trading Monday on the TSX, Cardero shares rose 54 cents to $1.99, a gain of more than 37%.
(c) The Canadian Press
