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Viridis Mining and Minerals (ASX:VMM) has rocketed as much as +50% intraday on Monday after securing the Preliminary Licence for its flagship Colossus project, which will significantly reduce risk on the timeline.
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The explorer has been working towards production at its Minas Gerais rare earths project and has now cleared the latest hurdle just before Christmas.
“Securing the Preliminary License for Colossus is a defining milestone for Viridis and a clear validation of the quality of our technical, environmental, and ESG works,” the company’s managing director, Rafael Moreno, declared.
“As the most complex and time-intensive of the three environmental approvals, this decision materially de-risks the project and now confirms Colossus as one of the most advanced ionic clay rare earth developments globally.”
Australian investors certainly seem to think it’s a massive milestone – within a half-hour after the release went live, VMM had burst to over $1.33/sh.
The Monday value pop cements Vridis’ year as one to remember; the Aussie explorer’s capitalisation has been as much as +290% stronger through CY25 already, as it progresses Colossus in Brazil towards 2026 production.
Approval was granted unanimously by all voting members of the State Environmental Policy Council of Minas Gerais, the Aussie company confirmed.
The PL now authorises Viridis to start development activities across the Northern Concessions in the municipality of Pocos de Caldas. These Concessions underpin a reported 215 million tonne mineral resource; reports say there’s as much as 97.4 million tonnes of probable ore in the region’s reserve.
Parallel workstreams are continuing after this “landmark” approval, including resource conversion drilling, the completion of a definitive feasibility study (which should be wrapped up in June), and work on a research centre. A demonstration plant is also scheduled to start being built by March next year.
At time of writing, VMM shares have been selling at $1.29/ea.
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