Viridis Mining and Minerals has secured approximately €13.1 million in long-term Brazilian public financing for a rare-earth research and processing centre linked to its Colossus project in Minas Gerais, providing funding for development work on a potential alternative source of rare-earth materials. Brazilian development bank BNDES approved approximately R$77.5 million, equivalent to around €13.1 million, for the Rare Earth Research and Processing Centre in Poços de Caldas.
The financing has a 16-year tenor, including a four-year grace period, and will support research, processing development and demonstration-scale activities associated with the project. The BNDES package represents confirmed public financing, distinguishing it from project announcements based solely on strategic designations, preliminary cooperation agreements or expressions of interest. The financing is provided by Brazil rather than a European institution, while the project’s European relevance is linked to Viridis’ technical and commercial relationship with Belgian chemicals company Solvay.
Solvay’s La Rochelle facility in France has been evaluating material from Colossus. Viridis has also signed a strategic offtake and technical-cooperation letter of intent with Solvay, although the agreement remains non-binding and does not represent contracted commercial sales. French export-credit agency Bpifrance has separately provided indications of potential financing support. Those indications have not yet resulted in committed project debt.
The Colossus project is targeting rare-earth production from ionic-adsorption-style mineralisation, a deposit type that could potentially enable production of magnet rare earths using a less conventional hard-rock processing route than that required by many competing projects. The development has potential relevance for European supply chains because material from Colossus could feed existing rare-earth separation capacity in France.
For Europe, such a supply route could also reduce exposure to Chinese rare-earth supply chains, particularly for materials used in permanent magnets and other industrial applications. The BNDES financing provides funding for research, processing development and demonstration activities at Poços de Caldas, while further stages of the Colossus development will depend on commercial and project-financing progress. Viridis will need to advance its technical cooperation and financing discussions toward binding offtake agreements, full-scale project funding and sustained industrial production as the project moves beyond the research and demonstration phase.
