Third batch drill results continue to impress, at an average grade across 109 augur holes of an impressive 3,002ppm TREO
Up to 9,447ppm TREO discovered at the western quarter of the Alkaline Complex
Further assay results are pending and intensive drilling across the project continues
Special Report: A third set of assays from Viridis Mining and Minerals’ Colossus REE project, Brazil, have returned an average grade of 3,002ppm TREO across 113 drill holes – further giving further confidence of it becoming a world-class rare earths project.
Viridis Mining and Minerals’ (ASX:VVM) Colossus acquisition is within Brazil’s pro-mining state of Minas Gerais and directly adjacent to Meteoric Resources’ (ASX:MEI) Caldeira project.
Caldeira has a monster existing resource of 409Mt @ 2,626 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxides (TREO) – the highest grade for any Ionic Adsorption Clay (IAC) project known, with metallurgical testing showing excellent leach extraction percentages for valuable magnet REEs.
IAC projects are well known to contain high value magnet rare earths such as neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr).
Third batch drilling
A third set of assays has come back from Phase I and Phase II maiden exploration programs for a total of 109 auger holes and four diamond hole assays have been received, showing an average REE grade of a whopping 3,002ppm TREO with NdPr @ 720ppm and Dy-Tb @ 33ppm.
More than 100 auger holes, 34 adapted-RC holes and 19 diamond holes are still waiting to be assayed, with exploration drilling ongoing at Colossus’ Northern Concessions and Cupim South prospect.
Impressively, the sixth diamond drill hole from the Fazenda prospect returned 33.5m @3,091ppm TREO, representing the best intercept to date from the Northern Concessions and the second-best recorded intercept within the entire northern half of the complex.
Four diamond assays have been received with FZ-DDH-006 resulting in the best intercept (grade x thickness) within Northern Concessions to date and the second-best intercept within the entire northern half of the Alkaline Complex reported by any IAC Project.
These assays have discovered the highest recorded grades within the Northern Concessions and outlined high priority targets for follow-up deeper drilling, which will be undertaken imminently.
Diamond drilling to date has shown mineralisation generally extends to depths of 20-50m, leaving significant upside potential of the ultra-high-grade auger assays (4,000ppm–7,500ppm) to extend their thickness by multiples upon receiving further RC/diamond follow-up results.
VMM’s Colossus project. Pic supplied: (VMM)
VMM exec chair Agha Shahzad Pervez says the latest augur drilling assays are the best results seen within the project’s Northern Concessions to date, and re-affirms that Colossus is a world-class project.
“Numerous auger holes have ended in the last few metres at 4,000-7,500+ ppm which demonstrates the potential for Viridis to grow the understanding of a world class IAC ore body with deeper drilling,” Pervez says.
“Auger drilling has been effective to identify the highest-grade areas we’ve seen to date, which will be followed as soon as possible with deeper RC/Diamond drilling which to date has consistently extended mineralisation to depths of 20-50 metres.”
“The western quarter of the Alkaline Complex has previously had no drilling or exploration for REEs conducted within a 9km radius.
“This marks a regional discovery from a completely new zone within the Poços de Caldas Alkaline Complex in which Viridis holds both the first mover advantage and a dominant land position.
“We are actively acquiring data, drilling and enhancing our understanding of the high-grade mineralisation system within the unexplored Western Province which will allow us to capitalise on this standout opportunity.”
Next steps
Future works at Colossus include continuation of the auger, diamond and RC drilling campaigns, as well as geological mapping, geochemical and metallurgical tests and mineralogical characterisation.
Drilling will continue at the western and other greenfield prospects as a scout drilling mechanism for further discoveries, while an RC drill rig will be mobilised and commence operations at Cupim South, followed by the Northern Concessions.
This will allow future results from these concessions to outline the full thickness and highest grades present across the entirety of the saprolite profile, VMM says.
Elsewhere, the diamond drill rig will start the new year being mobilised to the Centro Sul prospect, followed by the Capão da Onça prospect.
Metallurgical sampling has also commenced and samples from multiple diamond cores will be sent for in-depth analysis for optimised metallurgical leaching tests with ammonium sulfate.
This article was developed in collaboration with Viridis Mining and 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.
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