Viridis Mining and Minerals (ASX: VMM) has tabled some stellar grade rare earths at its Cupim South ionic clay deposit within the appropriately named Colossus project in Brazil that the company says are the best numbers yet.
The highest grade result from the latest campaign was 9m at 6551ppm total rare earths (TREO) from surface and that hole ended in mineralisation which means it likely has more to give.
Another 16m intersection clocked in at 5952ppm TREO and that one was also from surface and also ended in mineralisation.
Notably both holes had solid shows of the very lucrative and difficult to find “heavy” rare earths terbium and dysprosium. The 9m hole contained a 2m hit of dysprosium and terbium oxide grading 221ppm and the 16m hole gave up a 6m intersection of dysprosium and terbium oxide going 105ppm.
20 auger drill holes in the latest campaign averaged between 4000ppm and 6551ppm total rare earth oxides (TREO) and the 20 top average grade intercepts from the extension drilling program all run from surface to depths ranging between 3m and 17m within an irregularly-shaped but continuous area about 3.8km long and 2km wide.
The company reports that every one of the 20 highlighted holes ended in strong rare earths mineralisation ranging between 2539ppm and 6712ppm TREO over 2m sample intervals.
However, the lower 2539ppm figure is something of single low outlier in the suite given the next lowest end-of-hole average result is considerably higher at 3218ppm TREO.
Notably dysprosium and terbium oxide mineralisation was discovered in every one of the 20 highlighted intercepts over intervals ranging from 2m to 15m, with their combined oxide grades ranging between 75ppm and 221ppm. In one example the final 15m of the hole went 105ppm combined dysprosium and terbium oxide.
Dysprosium and terbium are currently the most highly-valued of the rare earths because of their demand by manufacturers for high performance magnets used in modern power generating systems and in electric motors, particularly those installed in electric vehicles (EVs).
A cross-section through the centre of the new mineralised zone reveals remarkable consistency too with the high-grade mineralisation overall in the range of about 4,200ppm to more than 6,500ppm TREO.
Viridis says such intercepts reveal significant scope within the drilled areas to identify further heavy rare earths mineralisation from deeper reverse-circulation (RC) drilling which could offer a notably much higher tonnage, more metal and higher overall rare earths basket values.
The new discovery adjoins the company’s Cupim South resource, just one of Viridis’ prospects within its Colossus project in Brazil’s Poços De Caldas region.
The region encloses possibly the biggest alkaline complex in the southern hemisphere and it has been found to carry remarkably homogeneous rare earths mineralisation.
Viridis’ maiden Cupim South deposit comprises an initial estimated indicated and inferred resource of 28 million tonnes at an average grade of 3061ppm TREO, made up from only about 15 per cent of the Cupim South area.
The resource includes 857ppm combined neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium – all of which are sought after “magnet” rare earths that are in demand from the electric vehicle and associated industries.
At Cupim South bulk composited testwork has achieved average recoveries of 67 per cent for neodymium and praseodymium and 53 per cent for dysprosium and terbium combined, respectively.
The company says the deposit ranks as one of the highest-grade individual deposits on the globe and has potential to increase many times over in future resource upgrades as new mineralisation is unveiled by ongoing exploration.
The recent auger drilling exemplifies the potential spectacularly, as it comprised an exploratory step-out program from the Cupim South deposit to test for possible mineralisation extensions to the south-east.
The latest results comprise the company’s ninth batch of assays from the project which include mostly step-out auger drilling at the Cupim South extension discovery but also include results of infill drilling at its Northern Concessions which returned exceptional results and significantly elevated magnet rare earths oxide (MREO) results.
Despite the Northern Concessions targeting lower-grade blocks, results reveal higher grade intercepts than had been previously modelled.
In some areas, the intercepted grades are more than twice those which had been modelled in the resource which offers another avenue for material improvement in the next resource upgrade.
Another outstanding set of results which reaffirm the remarkable resource we are dealing with at Colossus. The very high-grade core being identified at our Cupim South Extension supports our development strategy to focus on the exceptionally high areas of TREO / MREO in our Northern Concessions and Cupim South Extension.
Viridis Mining and Minerals CEO, Rafael Moreno
The most impressive RC hole from the Northern Concessions program intercepted 26m going 5270ppm TREO from 4m, including 6m running 10,375ppm TREO containing 41 per cent magnet rare earths including 14m at 91ppm combined dysprosium and terbium oxides.
The second best hole intercepted 16m going 5090ppm TREO from 2m, including 6m at 7529ppm TREO containing 48 per cent MREO, including 6m at 146ppm combined dysprosium and terbium oxides.
At Northern Concessions, bulk composited testwork has achieved average recoveries of 63 per cent for neodymium and praseodymium and 65 per cent for dysprosium and terbium combined, respectively.
The Northern Concessions infill drilling results highlight several areas where the company believes it can significantly improve grades in future resource upgrades and add tonnages from deeper levels of mineralisation than previously thought.
Viridis’ current development focus will continue to be on infill drilling to confirm and validate existing mineralisation at the Cupim South and Northern Concessions, both of which will add to the already massive 201m tonne global resource at the broader Colossus project grading 2590 ppm TREO – 26 per cent of which is represented by lucrative magnet rare earths.
By any measure Colossus appears to hold up to scrutiny. Firstly, at 201m tonnes it is already huge and the grades put most competing projects in the shade.
Notably, the mineralisation kicks off right from surface and unlike many other clay based resources that are well endowed with the “light” rare earths neodymium and praseodymium, this one also has the uber-lucrative heavy elements terbium and dysprosium.
And while many projects out there are being touted as “clay” based rare earths, most savvy market watchers are starting to catch on that those clays should ideally be “ionic” clays if you want to be in with a shot of processing them – this one has that too.
All of which should make for an interesting scoping study due soon.
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