Resouro Strategic Metals’ (ASX:RAU) subsidiary Tiros Minerais Estrategicos Mineraçao has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with YM Serviços Minerais to extract minerals from the Tiros Titanium and Rare Earths Project in Minas Gerais, Brazil.
The MoU covers the provision of YM Serviços Minerais’ high-performance fusion sulphuric acid leach process, which Resouro says delivered “encouraging results” in initial proof-of-concept tests on composite samples.
Resouro will pay $8,000 per month for 12 months or until it has completed a Prefeasibility Study (PFS), starting with laboratory tests on two 200-kilogram samples.
The company will also pay $540,000 on completion of pilot tests and issuing the PFS, subject to at least one signed offtake agreement that will be paid in two monthly installments.
Resouro, which has a market capitalisation of $17.9 million, will pay $2.7 million based on a 10% net profit interest from the demonstration plant’s positive cashflow, capped at this amount.
Both companies have started additional testwork to verify initial results and to optimise operating conditions.
Upon completion, Resouro will process a 200kg composite sample from the Tiros zone to produce titanium concentrates, a precipitated mixed rare earths oxide or rare earths carbonate, as well as determine the specifications of other byproducts and their potential marketability and produce sample quantities necessary for customer assessment.
The technology developed in this partnership will be designed to maximise product recovery and aims to eliminate or substantially reduce waste disposal from the metallurgical process.
CEO Alistair Stephens says this agreement solidifies the company’s position in sustainable processing of vital in-demand minerals.
“This strategic partnership places us at the forefront of innovative mineral processing in Brazil and provides significant scope to enhance Tiros’ economic viability, reinforcing the highly attractive opportunity the project represents,” Stephens says.
Resouro notes parallel beneficiation testwork is expected to be completed during Q3 2025 with the outcome used to determine the flowsheet for the pilot plant.
The company is also expecting that a resource estimate for the Northern Block will be available by the end of this quarter.
Resouro Strategic Metals is a Canadian mineral explorer and developer focused on the discovery and development of economic projects in Brazil.
The Tiros Project, covering 497km2, has 28 mineral concessions and is located in Minas Gerais — one of the best infrastructurally developed states of Brazil.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Resouro Strategic Metals
