Viridis Mining & Minerals (ASX:VMM) appoints drilling contractor for maiden exploration at Colossus, Brazil

• Viridis Mining & Minerals (VMM) selects a Brazilian drilling provider to plug away at its Colossus REE project
• The company believes it could be sitting on a globally significant REE deposit
• Maiden drilling will kick off in September using low-cost auger rigs
• Former entities on-site have proven high-grade REEs are treatable with standard metallurgy processes
• Shares are up 4.59 per cent, trading at 57 cents at 2:23 pm AEST

Viridis Mining & Minerals (VMM) has selected a drilling contractor to commence maiden exploration at its Colossus project in Brazil.

The company is partnering with the privately held Brazilian company HIDROEX, which has an established presence in the Pocos De Caldas region where Colossus is located.

Viridis has the ability to deploy rigs with just 72 hours’ notice, and drilling is scheduled to commence later this month.

The initial phase of drilling will target existing areas of interest identified by Viridis, which are in close proximity to ASX-listed Meteoric Resources’ (MEI) Caldeira project. This project boasts a resource of 409 million tonnes at 2626 parts per million REEs.

In essence, Viridis geotechnicians are optimistic about what they consider to be a potentially high-value nearology play.

The first stage of the Colossus drilling campaign aims to complete 3200 metres of drill core across 213 auger drill holes, covering four licenses, each with its own targets. These licenses are Caminho Das Pedras, Fazenda, Ceten, and Carijo.

Previous historic drilling on-site, conducted by former operators, has been limited to a depth of only three metres, which the company believes has never penetrated deeper REE mineralisation underground.

The Fazenda and Ceten prospects, in particular, have intersected high-grade REEs from the surface ending in mineralisation, as reported by Viridis today. These prospects will be the first to be targeted by the drilling rigs.

The Carijo prospect is also of interest after Virdis received key chemical and metallurgical test results. The test results ultimately yielded exceptional grades, with one sample containing 27 per cent high-value magnetic rare earths.

Phase two of the drilling campaign will also utilise auger rigs and will focus on the Alkaline Complex, a target area of interest on the western and southeast licenses.

“We have developed a multi-phased drill plan to establish a significant ionic rare earth resource that would make the Colossus project a globally significant deposit,” stated VMM Executive Chair Agha Shahzad Pervez.

VMM shares were up 4.59 per cent, trading at 57 cents at 2:23 pm AEST.