Viridis Mining & Minerals (ASX: VMM) has unveiled the highest-ever rare earths grades at its Colossus project in the State of Minas Gerais in southern Brazil, with new drill results showing hits of up to 25,075 parts per million total rare earth oxides (TREO).
And the company’s recently-expanded Cupim South prospect has also continued to produce outstanding grades of up to 24,894ppm in ground adjacent to where it made its latest land grab last week. The best-ever 25,075ppm result was recorded at its promising Caminho Das Pedras target in its northern concession area.
Viridis says the results are from the fifth set of assay results received from the first two phases of its exploration programs, with step-out auger and reverse-circulation (RC) drilling completed at Cupim South.
With the highly-encouraging outcome from the recent drilling, management intends to begin a comprehensive exploration program at its newly-acquired land. It revealed last week that it had extended Cupim South by a further 9.98 square kilometres to form a continuous 15.75sq-km corridor within the central and southern part of the complex.
The expansion at Viridis’ imposing Colossus project at Poços de Caldas in Minas Gerais now has it sitting on a dominant 239sq-km landholding and includes significant exposure to the south, north and west of the Alkaline complex.
The company says the headline result from its northern concession area was the highest-known grade recorded within the Alkaline complex. It believes the latest assays will drive it towards a “globally-significant” deposit and says the results will be incorporated into its maiden resource model.
These results continue to showcase the incredible potential at Cupim South, returning some of the highest grades within the Complex. This reaffirms the strategic importance of the recently-secured ground adjacent to these step-out holes which lie on the eastern and southern sides of Cupim South, including one granted mining license, which bodes well for defining a potentially exceptional resource through this southern corridor.
Viridis Mining & Minerals chief executive officer Rafael Moreno
The company reported several stunning drill hits at each of its Cupim South, Caminho Das Pedras and Fazenda prospects.
Cupim South returned a head-turning 10m at 11,850ppm TREO, with the peak grade of 24,894ppm including 43 per cent magnet rare earth oxides (MREO) and ending in 8652ppm TREO. It included a section of 5m grading 15,680ppm TREO with 45 per cent MREO.
The high MREO content consisted of 215ppm dysprosium and terbium oxide averaged across the intercept. Another hole encountered 6498ppm TREO, but had a sixfold enrichment in dysprosium and terbium oxide of 323ppm in the comparative final metre.
Management says deeper drilling is now warranted, both for the heavy rare earths potential at the project and the high-grade mineralisation intersected in several holes that remain pen at depth and provide the potential for grades exceeding 8000ppm TREO. A further hit at Cupim South of 17m at 4427ppm TREO with 32 per cent MREO was drilled from surface and included 9m going 6950ppm TREO.
Caminho Das Pedras produced a rock-solid 21m at 5210ppm TREO with 31 per cent MREO from 3m and included 6m at 8993ppm TREO. The peak result of 25,075ppm TREO included a whopping 8382ppm MREO and 357ppm dysprosium-terbium oxide.
The Fazenda prospect, part of the northern concession area, returned 21m at 3009ppm TREO with 34 per cent MREO from 5m and including 14m at 3609ppm TREO and a 28m hit going 2589ppm TREO from 3m including 10m at 4017ppm TREO.
More than 110 drillhole assays are still pending. The current focus of exploration will now shift from infill drilling to following up and testing the full depths of auger holes that have ended in high-grade mineralisation.
The company says future works will include continuing the auger, diamond-drilling and RC drilling campaigns, in addition to geological mapping and geochemical and metallurgical tests. It says RC drilling has begun within the identified high-grade corridor at the Capão Da Onça prospect, with deeper drilling planned at the RA prospect.
Viridis says diamond-drilling has also kicked off at Centro Sul and the newly-acquired prospects and it remains on track with all project development activities, with metallurgy and resource definition work ongoing.
With every batch of assay results seemingly stretching the project towards a world-class resource, the sky appears to be the limit for this Colossus of a project.
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