Viridis ready to expand Colossus with extra prospect licences

Mining licences for Cupim South and exploration licences for Centro Sul prospects granted
Cupim South shows ultra-high grades of TREO – up to 10,980ppm
Centro Sul a continuation of Cupim South expansion

Special Report: Pivotal mining and exploration licenses have been granted for Viridis Mining & Minerals to get busy proving up new prospects at its Colossus REE project in Brazil.

Viridis Mining & Minerals’ (ASX:VMM) Colossus global resource estimate currently stands at 201Mt at 2590ppm total rare earth oxides and is considered to have one of the highest concentrations of magnetic rare earths for an ionic clay-hosted REE project in the world.

That includes the valuable light rare earths neodymium and praseodymium – NdPr. Cupim South has a spectacular basket of those at 857ppm.

IAC deposits are known for their potential to deliver low-cost, high-margin operations despite their lower grades compared to their hard rock counterparts, thanks to their shallow, free digging nature and are common in southern China.

While hard rock deposits are higher in grade, they require more intensive processing to liberate the metals from the ore. In IAC deposits, natural weathering has already done much of that work.

Increasingly, Brazil has emerged as a hotspot for the discovery of some of the highest grade clay rare earths deposits globally.

Cupim South critical

Cupim South mining licences have been granted to VMM, with all outstanding liabilities including environmental reports lodged and accepted.

Acquired back in March for $322,000, the explorer says the Cupim South prospect is going to play a critical role in its development strategy of Colossus.

It has a current resource of 28Mt at 3061ppm TREO, which was delineated through drilling only 1.69km2 and excludes 10.26km2 of ground in the expanded mineral licences.

Drilling has already shown remarkable results of up to 10,980ppm and holds the potential to provide a multi-year and ultra-high grade +4000ppm ore feed.

It also contains some of the highest MREO grades for an ionic deposit. VMM says they will be critical to obtaining a higher basket value and better margins.

Exploration at Centro Sul

The Centro Sul exploration licences have been granted covering an area of 5.86km2 and adjoining to Cupim South in the north and the Soberbo deposit to the south.

Three drill holes have been completed to date at Centro Sul, returning significant results including:

22m at 2848ppm TREO from 5m, including 10.5m at 3929ppm TREO (including 31% MREO); and,
27m at 2,273ppm TREO (including 18% MREO) from 6m.

VMM has also exercised the Tamayo licenses and plans to incorporate results into the future mineral resource upgrade.

“This has been a significant piece of work by our local team, to recover and secure such critical tenements which form a key component of our development strategy,” VMM CEO Rafael Moreno says.

“Based on the outstanding grades we have seen to date in the Cupim South extension area, we are looking forward to releasing the results of our recent drilling and showcasing the world class characteristics of this high-grade area.

“Importantly, we now have a contiguous corridor of 17.69km2 which supports a simplified mine plan.

“With the exceptional grades of the valuable MREOs, which can be easily mined from surface, it ensures the Colossus project remains on track to be one of the lowest cost REE producers globally.”

Drilling is ongoing at both Centro Sul and the Cupim South expansion area with results expected later this month. Multiple forms of metallurgical test work are also progressing, with initial results expected soon.

Future plans for Colossus

VMM’s current focus continues to be on infill drilling and metallurgical testing with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) to optimise leaching conditions and kick-off impurity removal and mixed rare earth carbonate testing.

In parallel, the explorer says it looks forward to completing its scoping study in the coming months and continuing with critical permitting activities.

This article was developed in collaboration with Viridis Mining & Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.