Verde AgriTech Commences Drilling at District Scale Clay Hosted Rare Earths Discovery in Minas Gerais, Brazil
Second rig arriving at site in two days; third rig mobilizing in ~15 days
Near term focus is defining initial high-quality resources for the fastest viable path to production
SINGAPORE, Oct. 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Verde AgriTech Ltd. (TSX: NPK | OTCQX: VNPKF) (“Verde” or the “Company”) announces that drilling commenced on October 7, 2025 at the Company’s district scale, clay hosted rare earth discovery in Alto Paranaíba, Minas Gerais, Brazil. A second rig is scheduled to arrive on October 11, 2025, with a third rig expected to mobilize on or about October 24, 2025, enabling a three-rig program in the near term.
Program highlights:
- Three drill rig program: Drilling commenced October 7, 2025, second drill rig expected on site October 11, 2025, and last drill rig expected in two weeks.
- Fast track objective: Quickly define highest quality resources to determine the fastest viable path to production; Phase 2 drilling will expand on current drilling to delineate the full potential of the land package.
- Metallurgy: Ionic adsorption confirmation and flowsheet testwork are underway, with confirmation targeted for Q4 2025.
- Next step: Board assessment, including naming of project and expected milestones to be released October 14, 2025.
“Over the past 15 years we’ve established, in this region of Minas Gerais, the right team and equipment, lab capacity, including power and road infrastructure to advance our projects quickly,” commented Cristiano Veloso, Founder and CEO. “Building on the recently announced district scale discovery—characterized by high TREO and magnet grade MREO, with a strong NdPr share and consistent Dy/Tb in the highest-grade samples—we are accelerating this new rare earths project in a disciplined, cash efficient way that does not compromise our low carbon fertilizer business.”
Project Accelerated Timeline
The Project’s mineralized zone lies within concessions that form part of Verde’s long held potash property package, where the Company has operated for over 15 years—a platform that materially reduces start up friction, specifically as it related to:
- People: In house, multidisciplinary teams ready for mapping, sampling and drilling; rapid field to decision cadence.
- Equipment: Drill rigs, vehicles, field equipment and integrated IT systems for fast data capture.
- Laboratory: Verde’s lab supports sample preparation, scout assays and metallurgical screening in parallel with external labs—shortening cycles and de risking flowsheet choices.
- Execution Experience: In the same region, Verde has brought two mines into production and built two large scale industrial plants that are operating today.
- Regional infrastructure: Roads, bridges and high voltage power to site have been significantly upgraded by Verde, avoiding years of typical infrastructure lead time
Next Steps
On October 14, 2025, Verde plans to publish a comprehensive Board assessment that includes the program’s formal name and a clear milestone map.
Rare Earths Discovery
Verde recently reported a continuous, clay hosted rare earth mineralized zone covering ~5,500 hectares across 13 mineral rights, delineated by integrated mapping, geochemistry, geophysics and confirmed by trench sampling (see press release dated October 6, 2025). Highlight assays include up to 8,930 ppm TREO and up to 2,182 ppm MREO; 75 trench/surface samples average 743 ppm MREO (54/75 = 400 ppm; 22/75 = 1,000 ppm). Samples are NdPr rich (averaging ~19% of TREO, peaking 24%) with high grade dysprosium and terbium present—attributes aligned to magnet grade applications in EVs and wind turbines.
Technical Notes, QA/QC and Qualified Person
The scientific and technical information in this release is consistent with Verde’s October 6, 2025 discovery disclosure, including laboratories (SGS Geosol), methods and QA/QC insertion rates (blanks/CRMs/duplicates). The scientific and technical information was reviewed and approved by José Márcio Matta Machado Paixão, Fellow AusIMM, a Qualified Person under NI 43 101.
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