Viridis Mining Enhances Colossus Rare Earths Project with Strong Drilling Results
Viridis Mining and Minerals has announced robust assay results from infill and extension drilling at its Colossus rare earths project located in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The company's ongoing exploration efforts are significantly boosting resource confidence and unlocking substantial growth potential for this critical minerals asset.
Exceptional Near-Surface Grades Uncovered
Infill reverse circulation drilling at the flagship Northern Concessions has delivered exceptional near-surface grades that surpass the existing block model. These results are particularly notable for heavy rare earth elements such as dysprosium and terbium, which are highly valued in the manufacture of powerful permanent magnets essential for electric vehicles and wind turbine generation systems.
Management highlights that this enrichment enhances the projected basket value and revenue profile of the Colossus project, positioning it as a key player in the global rare earths market.
Key Drilling Intercepts and Findings
The top three standout intercepts from the drilling program include:
- A 12-meter interval assaying 6,082 parts per million total rare earth oxides, with a 4-meter section reaching 10,520 ppm TREO and 4,857 ppm magnet rare earths, containing 171 ppm combined dysprosium and terbium.
- An 8-meter interval running 9,118 ppm TREO and 4,002 ppm MREO with 138 ppm combined dysprosium and terbium.
- A 16-meter section at 5,824 ppm TREO, including an 8-meter segment going 8,538 ppm TREO and 3,540 ppm MREO with 192 ppm combined dysprosium and terbium.
These results, derived from a high-density 75m x 75m infill drilling pattern, strongly support expectations of a significant uplift in the forthcoming mineral resource update. This bodes well for improving project economics and bankability, solidifying Colossus as the largest ionic adsorption clay reserve outside China.
Enhanced Resource Confidence and Continuity
Parallel auger exploration in the eastern extension area of the Northern Concessions has confirmed a continuous, high-grade MREO corridor, with holes ending in mineralisation and reinforcing lateral continuity. Key results include a 6-meter interval assaying 4,395 ppm TREO and 1,337 ppm MREO, and a second hole with a 6-meter intercept going 4,120 ppm TREO and 1,160 ppm MREO.
Combined with a recent 46 percent increase in landholding through the acquired Eastern Extension, the Northern Concessions alone demonstrate multi-generational scale potential, highlighting the extensive fertility and prospectivity of the company's tenure within the 400-square-kilometre area.
Greenfield Exploration and Technical Progress
Greenfield auger drilling at the Southern Complex and Campo do Coqueirinho prospects has also returned encouraging thicknesses and grades. One hole pierced 12 meters at 5,368 ppm TREO and 1,721 ppm MREO for a healthy 32 percent MREO/TREO ratio, while a second hole delivered 12 meters at 4,715 ppm TREO and 1,119 ppm MREO, both ending in mineralisation.
These results validate the company's regional geological model and indicate further discovery upside across the broader tenement package, with follow-up RC drilling planned to test depth extensions.
Advancing Towards Final Investment Decision
Supporting technical programs, including geotechnical investigations, in-situ density measurements, mineralogical characterisation, and moisture studies, are progressing to refine mine design and processing assumptions. This integrated effort underpins the definitive feasibility study being conducted with global engineering consultancy Hatch.
Key milestones include an installation license application and commissioning of a mixed rare earths carbonate demonstration plant by the end of the first quarter, alongside ongoing engineering, procurement, and construction management tendering. Parallel offtake and financing discussions with export credit agencies are also in progress.
The company has slated completion of its mineral resource and reserves update and the DFS for the end of June, with the global mineral resource estimate currently standing at 498 million tonnes at 2,508 ppm TREO and 601 ppm MREO for a 24 percent MREO/TREO ratio.
Viridis is well-positioned to advance towards its final investment decision in the third quarter of 2026, with potential construction scheduled to begin in the second half of the year. This continues to de-risk and scale-up the Colossus project as a globally significant, non-China-centred ionic clay rare earths asset, with drilling successes further enhancing economics and development optionality.
