Viridis has signed an agreement to secure additional ground at the Colossus rare earths project
This expansion provides the company with a dominant land footprint and the potential to expand the major discoveries made at Cupim South
Exploration work to begin on the new licences shortly
Special Report: Viridis has secured a further 9.98km2 of licences which extend and adjoin the Cupin South prospect within its flagship Colossus ionic adsorption clay (IAC) REE project in Brazil.
Viridis Mining and Minerals (ASX:VMM) has taken control of more highly prospective critical mineral ground around its Colossus project, expanding the Cupim South prospect from 1.71km2 to a continual landholding that bridges the Centro Sul prospect with Cupim South.
This has now formed a 15.75km2 corridor between two major IAC resources – the 92Mt Sobero deposit where holes such as 21.4m @ 4,896ppm TREO were reported, and the 104Mt Cupim Vermelho Norte deposit where historical auger drilling by JOGMEC intersected 16m @ 3,100ppm TREO about 180m away.
This corridor combining Cupim South and Centro Sul includes one mining license, one mining license application and one right to request mining.
At Centro Sul, land access has been granted and exploration has kicked off with three diamond holes completed to date and sent to labs for assaying.
The Cupim South prospect has already delivered exceptional grades to date (including 14m @ 6,177ppm TREO).
With this new agreement, VMM says it now holds the ability to expand upon the major discoveries made.
A world-class ore body in the making
“Our first batch of assays from diamond drilling at Cupim South provided a weighted average grade in saprolite of 3,460ppm, ranging from 15 to 45 metres thick and over 1.25km strike, which indicates the presence of world class ore body in this area,” VMM chief executive Rafael Moreno says.
“This expansion sets up the potential for Cupim South to be an incredible asset concerning both grade and scale.
Map of Cupim South and new areas acquired. Pic: Supplied (VMM)
“We were able to negotiate and secure this vital ground on favourable terms through our strategic partnership with the vendors of the Colossus project and our Brazilian executive team’s rigorous work.
“Upon settlement of the acquisition, Viridis will have a dominant land position of 239km2 in Poços De Caldas, which provides a runway for continual exploration.”
Both prospects are within the central region of the Alkaline Complex, and according to VMM, hold tremendous potential for high-grade IAC REEs.
What’s next?
Mining Licenses 806.604/1973, 806.605/1973, and 830.340/1979 (located on the Cupim South Expansion) are currently encumbered as the existing owners have failed to pay fines linked to non-submission of previous annual mining reports.
VMM plans to rectify this by completing a simple remediation process so the company can begin ground exploration work on these licenses.
Satellite view of new consolidated Cupim South Prospect with previous Cupim South area in dotted line. Pic: Supplied (VMM)
As for Mining License Application 830.464/1982, VMM will proceed with drilling and the regular environmental licensing process.
This will take this mining application licence towards a granted mining license, while the remaining acquired licenses are being prepared for exploration.
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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