Viridis fires up Brazilian rare earths plant in global supply race

Viridis Mining and Minerals has produced the first batch of mixed rare earth carbonate at its Colossus demonstration plant in Brazil, marking a major technical milestone for the company as it edges closer to commercial production.

The product was generated at the company’s Rare Earth Research and Processing Centre in Poços de Caldas after the successful start-up of the semi-industrial facility earlier this month.

Viridis says the plant is designed to process ionic clay feed from Colossus and ranks among the largest known semi-industrial, continuous-operation ionic clay rare earth processing plants outside China.

Importantly, the facility has now proven its ability to produce high-grade mixed rare earth carbonate enriched in valuable magnetic rare earth elements, including dysprosium, terbium, neodymium, praseodymium and samarium.

These elements are critical inputs for permanent magnet supply chains and place Viridis in a small group of rare earths developers able to continuously process ionic clay material at scale into a saleable product.

The demonstration plant runs at a design throughput of 100 kilograms per hour and incorporates an automated control system for continuous operation.

Viridis says the facility has pulled together its operational, laboratory and technical crews alongside major equipment suppliers and SGS Laboratories under one roof. The setup now gives the company a live testing ground to fine-tune its processing flow and qualify product samples ahead of full-scale production at Colossus.

The production of our first MREC from the Colossus demonstration plant, following the successful commissioning and operational start-up of the facility, highlights the simplicity of the Colossus processing flowsheet, which underpins the Project’s globally competitive operating cost profile and potential to materially reset the rare earth cost curve.

With first production now achieved, the company is in a stronger position to finalise offtake discussions and validate key process parameters for the Colossus definitive feasibility study. To improve the study’s cost estimates, Viridis also plans to run test programs with shortlisted long lead equipment suppliers ahead of planned orders in the September quarter.

The company is targeting first commercial production from Colossus in 2028, with the demonstration plant representing another important step in de-risking the project and confirming the scalability of its processing flowsheet.

The facility also includes a zero liquid discharge water treatment system to recycle process water and reagents, helping reduce environmental impact as Viridis pushes ahead with a project that is steadily moving out of the laboratory and into the real world.

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