Serra Verde Group announces that it has been added to the Minerals Security Partnership’s (the “MSP”) list of projects that are of critical importance to the global energy transition.
In addition, the Energy and Minerals Group and Vision Blue Resources have led a US$150m investment in Serra Verde, with founding investor, Denham Capital, also participating and continuing its longstanding support of the business, to enable debottlenecking initiatives, deliver operational enhancements and advance long-term growth options.
Serra Verde is the only scale producer outside of Asia of the four critical rare earth elements (“REEs”) essential to the production of efficient permanent magnets, providing a new, reliable, responsible, traceable and low carbon supply of REEs to diversify global supply chains. Permanent magnets are needed for the energy transition and are integral to the production of efficient electric motors used in EVs, wind turbines, air conditioners and other vital applications.
The MSP is a collaboration of 14 partner countries and the European Union, currently chaired by the Republic of Korea, that aims to accelerate the development of diverse and sustainable critical energy mineral supply chains. The MSP works with host governments and industry to facilitate targeted financial and diplomatic support for strategic projects along the value chain. MSP partners strive to elevate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles across the global minerals sector, increase recycling of critical materials and promote local value addition.
Serra Verde aims to become the most sustainable supplier of REEs in the world by leveraging the superior credentials of its ionic clay operation, its advantageous location in Brazil and by applying best practice sustainability and operating standards. Serra Verde uses low operating risk open mining techniques and simple processing technologies with benign reagents. The operation has a low carbon footprint due to its largely renewable electricity supply and use of biofuels and is located in an established mining district with access to technical skills and services and well-developed road and port infrastructure.
Having entered commercial production in early 2024, Serra Verde has already begun work to increase Phase I capacity through plant optimization and debottlenecking and is assessing the potential for a Phase II expansion which could double run-of-mine production before 2030.
The Group is committed to building on the MSP’s trust and engagement so it can continue to play an active role in the creation of new ecosystems essential to the clean energy transition.
Thras Moraitis, CEO of Serra Verde, said:
“Today’s announcement is a strong endorsement of the significant role that Serra Verde can play in establishing sustainable, secure and diversified rare earth supply chains to enable the global energy transition. Federal, state and international coordination on the criticality of current and future critical mineral operations is essential to ensure they reach the scale necessary to allow them to successfully compete and accelerate the development of our industry. We have ambitious plans to invest in and expand our operation and the additional investment from our shareholders will enable us to continue to deliver on these exciting initiatives.”