Serra Verde obtains US$150mn for rare earth project in Brazil's Goiás state

Brazil's Mineração Serra Verde, controlled by global investment firm Denham Capital, received a capital injection of US$150mn to advance its rare earth element project in Brazil’s Goiás state.

The funds were injected by investment firms Energy and Minerals Group (EMG) and Vision Blue Resources (VBR), Denham Capital said in a statement.

"As a result, Serra Verde is now expected to be fully funded through to production and cash flow generation, with additional capital available for optimization and expansion-related activities. Together, Denham, EMG and VBR’s participation will accelerate and expand the production of REEs, specifically those used in permanent magnets critical to the transition towards a low carbon economy," the company said.

Construction is underway of phase I of the Pela Ema deposit, which is expected to produce at least 5,000t/y of rare earth oxide with a 25-year mine life, and with significant potential to increase capacity through initiatives such as plant optimization and debottlenecking, according to the statement.

The mine, in Minaçú municipality, will produce a concentrate containing a combination of both heavy and light magnetic REEs, including neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium, it added. 

"The company has arranged all required permits and production is expected to start in the second half of this year. "Serra Verde is on track to be only the third non-Asian scale producer and the first to produce all four critical magnetic REEs," said Denham Capital.

"Together, these four magnetic REEs are expected to constitute over 85% of the value of the Serra Verde concentrate. All four of these REEs are essential to the manufacture of permanent magnets for use in electric vehicle motors and wind turbine generators, for which demand is growing prolifically," it said.