Viridis Mining & Minerals (ASX:VMM) says consistent rare earths scout drilling hits of up to 5m at 10,689 parts per million total rare earths oxides (TREO) at its Colossus project in Brazil shows the “remarkable” mineralisation extent of its newest concessions.
The discoveries in eight of the company’s unexplored concessions have identified several new prospects, including Fazenda Cocal, Moinhos and Sao Roque, that management has now slated for deeper testwork.
Maiden auger drilling at its Cupim South deposit has also shaken out some tantalising grades including 12m at 8221ppm TREO from 6m that ended in mineralisation with 9643ppm TREO and the last 4m running 10,111ppm TREO.
The company says higher value magnet rare earth oxides (MREO) comprise 40 per cent of the TREO in that intercept. Neodymium and praseodymium combined to yield an impressive 2738ppm, while dysprosium and terbium fetched 113ppm.
Viridis bases its MREO percentages of the TREO on the contained proportion of seven magnetic rare earths – dysprosium, gadolinium, holmium, neodymium, praseodymium, samarium and terbium.
The company’s seventh suite of assays focussed primarily on the scout drilling of Colossus as a rapid and effective first-pass approach to highlight future possible targets and successfully identified eight new target areas.
At the Fazenda Cocal prospect, which extends for 5.44 square kilometres, maiden auger drilling discovered significant high-grade mineralisation, with the majority of the prospect remaining unexplored. Drilling scored a best hit of 13m at 7632ppm TREO from surface, ending in mineralisation of 7906ppm TREO and with the last 5m at the headline 10,689ppm TREO.
The MREO again comprise 40 per cent of the TREO and management says it is looking at drilling across the entire prospect to develop it into another potential high-grade resource.
At Moinhos, the best intercept was 6m at 4852ppm TREO from 2m, ending in mineralisation of 6419ppm TREO and with the last 3m running 5553ppm TREO. The MREO jumped to 45 per cent of the TREO.
The campaign also threw up 11m at 2199ppm TREO from surface at Sao Roque, with the intersection ending in mineralisation going 1287ppm TREO.
In other work outside Colossus, the company says maiden drilling at its newly-acquired São Domingos mining licenses, which make up the Cupim South Extension, confirms high rare earths grades and offers the first glimpse of shallow, elevated dysprosium and terbium at combined grades above 150ppm in that area.
The extent of consistent and high-grade results across these new concessions is remarkable and showcases the homogenous nature of the mineralisation across all the Colossus landholdings. Crucially, our maiden drilling at the São Domingos Mining Licenses has confirmed high grades of REE mineralisation, highlighting the significant resource in our southern tenements. Viridis Mining & Minerals chief executive officer Rafael Moreno
Management says a second round of results from infill auger, reverse-circulation (RC) and diamond drilling on a on a regular grid of 400m by 400m at Ribeirao are expected to boost confidence in its upcoming maiden mineral resource estimate model for the concession.
The best RC intercept yielded 21m at 4198ppm TREO from 3m, with 30 per cent MREO. The top diamond result at Ribeirao was 20.5m going 3123ppm TREO from 5.5m including 9.5m running 4325ppm TREO.
Viridis says its maiden auger drilling at Cupim South has doubled the footprint of mineralisation at the prospect and points to its potential for high-grade deposits with further evaluation. It is now planning further infill drilling and metallurgical testing for mine plan development and the completion of scoping study engineering.
Management says its stellar results and a focus on a development strategy to maximise earnings in the early years of production will sharpen its exploration efforts on its high-grade heavy rare earth discoveries.
The company says its maiden resource estimate is on track to be delivered next month, with a scoping study to be completed in this year’s third quarter. Metallurgical studies and testwork is also being undertaken with the assistance of ANSTO (the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation) as Viridis finalises its flowsheet design.
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