Shares in potash group Harvest Minerals (LON:HMI, ASX:HMI) shot up almost 10% in London as it increased its footprint in Brazil - with the award of two exploration licences covering the Mandacaru Phosphate project.
The Mandacaru assets spanning almost 4,000 hectares in Ceara State complement Harvest's other assets: the Arapua fertiliser project in Minas Gerais State and the Sergi and Capela Potash projects in Sergipe State.
Harvest executive chairman Brian McMaster told investors the new project bolstered its strategy of being a focused producer of fertiliser products in Brazil.
"We are very excited about this acquisition and the potential for it to dovetail into the company's existing plans to develop a direct application natural fertiliser product.
"The company looks forward to progressing development of the project along with its other projects".
Harvest has acquired existing exploration data, including drilling, from former owner, B&A Mineração Ltda, in return for a 2% net smelter royalty (NSR) from future production and is currently reprocessing the data ahead of a programme.
In the drilling data, phosphate mineralised intercepts ranged in thickness from one metre to 25.08 metres and with average grades from 2.5% to 14.38% of phosphorous pentoxide, the firm said.
Harvest shares pushed 9.52% higher to 0.575p.