Viridis Mining & Minerals Advances Toward 2026 Production Readiness for Brazil’s Colossus Rare Earths Project

Brazil’s Viridis Mining Develops Game-Changing Rare Earth Project with Low Radioactivity

Viridis Mining Minerals is advancing what industry experts consider one of the most promising rare earth projects globally. The company’s Colossus Ionic Adsorption Clay (IAC) Project in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state targets high-grade production of critical magnetic rare earth elements while boasting exceptionally low radioactive content – a significant competitive advantage in the tightly regulated industry.

The project demonstrates robust economics with a net present value of US$1.41 billion and projected annual operating cash flow of US$197 million at current market prices. What sets Colossus apart is ore grades 4-6 times higher than Chinese competitors and extraction processes that require no blasting, only simple digging operations reaching depths of 20-25 meters.

“The mining part is a free dig. So we obviously use diggers but the fact is that’s why they call it shovel and dig,” explained Rafael Moreno, Managing Director and CEO of Viridis, who brings 21 years of project execution experience from the oil and gas sector to the critical minerals industry.

The deposit’s geology provides Viridis with unique advantages. The “true ionic clay” formation results from bastnäsite source rock where rare earth elements are weakly bonded to clay particles. This allows extraction using basic salt solutions at atmospheric temperature and pressure, eliminating the complex processing typically required for hard rock rare earth projects.

Perhaps most significant is the project’s product composition, with 93-94% of the rare earth basket comprising the high-value elements neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium (NdPr-DyTb). These elements are essential components in permanent magnets used in electric vehicle motors, wind turbine generators, and other clean energy applications experiencing surging demand.

The Colossus project has secured a critical regulatory advantage through radiological exemption from Brazil’s nuclear regulator. “Our MREC showing that we’ve got less than 1% uranium and thorium, and there’s not many projects globally, if any, that could compete with that level of impurities in their final MREC,” Moreno noted.

This exemption keeps environmental approvals at the state level rather than federal, significantly accelerating the permitting timeline. While projects with economic-grade uranium face federal approvals in Brazil potentially adding five or more years to development, Colossus expects environmental approval within weeks.

The low radioactive content also enables market access to jurisdictions like the European Union and North America, where regulatory barriers typically restrict entry of higher radioactivity rare earth products – a crucial advantage as Western nations seek to reduce dependence on Chinese rare earth supplies.

From an environmental perspective, the project incorporates significant sustainability measures including 100% renewable power supply, 75% water recycling, and immediate site rehabilitation using processed clay materials – attributes increasingly important to ESG-focused investors and customers.

The financing pathway is advancing on multiple fronts. Viridis has secured backing from leading Brazilian asset managers Ore Investments and Régia Capital, providing access to up to US$30 million following extensive due diligence.

“We’ve been selected by the two leading asset managers in Brazil who’ve done close to a year’s worth of due diligence, who run a very big fund and have selected us not just as the best rare earth project but the best commodity project in Brazil,” Moreno said.

Parallel discussions with BNDES, Brazil’s development bank, have progressed to final-stage negotiations for significant project financing. Multiple offtake conversations are underway across Europe, North America, and Brazil, with some negotiations linked to specific export credit agency financing arrangements.

The company’s recently completed pre-feasibility study established that at $90 per kilogram NdPr pricing – approximately current market levels – the project maintains strong financial viability. The 5-million-ton-per-annum processing plant supports a 14-year mine life based on current reserves, though the company estimates potential for 60-year operations from existing northern concessions alone.

Notably, the project maintains resilience against price volatility. “The price can sit down at $50-$60 as we showed in our PFS recently for NdPr and we are making very robust returns,” Moreno explained, adding that “every dollar that NdPr goes up, we probably go up around 7 million” in annual cash flow.

Near-term catalysts include environmental approval expected within weeks, a demonstration plant operational by Q1 2026, an updated mineral resource in Q2 2026, and definitive feasibility study completion by June 2026.

As global rare earth supply dynamics increasingly favor projects capable of competing with Chinese production while meeting Western supply chain requirements, Colossus addresses multiple market needs simultaneously: grade competitiveness with Chinese operations, regulatory compliance for Western market access, and operational simplicity supporting reliable production schedules.

With electric vehicle adoption alone projected to drive neodymium and praseodymium demand growth exceeding 15% annually through 2030, and offshore wind deployment requiring substantial dysprosium and terbium quantities, Viridis appears well-positioned to capitalize on the growing supply-demand imbalance in critical rare earth elements.