Serra Verde enters commercial production in Brazil

Rare earths developer Serra Verde announced on Thursday it has started commercial production of mixed rare earth concentrate (MREC) from the first phase of its Pela Ema deposit in east-central Brazil.

Pela Ema is a large, long-life ionic clay deposit that contains an elevated proportion of high-value heavy and light rare earths, primarily neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium.

Once it has ramped up to full production, Serra Verde is expected to produce at least 5,000 tonnes per year of rare earth oxide.

“The start of commercial production is a critical milestone in our development and means we are now the only company outside Asia to produce at scale all four critical rare earths used in the production of permanent magnets,” Serra Verde CEO Thras Moraitis said in a statement.

Serra Verde’s production declaration marks it as only the second producing rare earths mine in the Americas, after MP Materials‘ (NYSE: MP) Mountain Pass project in California. The production of rare earths, used in permanent magnets and other technologies needed for the green energy transition is dominated by China, which currently supplies almost 90% of processed rare earths.

MREC samples from Serra Verde have already been accepted by major customers, and offtakes for a large proportion of planned production are in place with established processing companies, Serra Verde said.

The company has begun work to increase Phase I capacity at Pela Ema through plant optimization and is assessing the potential for a Phase II expansion, which it said could double run-of-mine production before 2030. Pela Ema is located in Minaçu, Goiás state.

Also in the northeastern region of that state, Aclara Resources (TSX: ARA) is developing the Carina Module rare earths project and last month released its inaugural resource for the ion adsorption clay deposit. 

Aclara’s Penco Module in Chile and Serra Verde’s Pela Ema projects represent the most advanced rare earths endeavours in South America. 

Brazil holds the third highest number of rare earths projects in the Americas, behind Canada and the United States.