Christopher Eager on the High-Grade Titanium and Rare Earths of Resouro Strategic Metals in Brazil

Описание: In the heart of Brazil’s mining country, where hills of iron and niobium have long fed global industry, a new frontier is emerging—and Christopher Eager is convinced its titanium and rare earths that will define the next chapter. “Brazil is one of the few places in the world where you can go from early-stage exploration through to start of construction in sometimes less than 24 months,” said Eager, CEO and Chairman of Resouro Strategic Metals Inc. (ASX: RAU | TSXV: RSM | OTCQB: RSGOF), in a recent InvestorNews.com interview with Peter Clausi. “The permitting regime is very good. The environmental agency is strict but fair, and the mining ministry is very prescriptive. It’s a great place to develop a project.”

Eager’s enthusiasm is grounded in data. Resouro’s Tiros Titanium-Rare Earths Project in Minas Gerais—350 kilometres from Belo Horizonte—hosts an NI 43-101 measured and indicated resource of 1.4 billion tonnes grading 12% titanium dioxide and 4,000 ppm total rare earth oxides. “We also have a supergene enrichment zone at surface—free-digging, friable material—of 130 million tonnes at 23% titanium dioxide and about 9,100 ppm total rare earth oxides,” Eager explained. “Ours is both bulk-mining and high-grade—the best of both worlds.”

Resouro’s August 14 results from the Tiros Northern Block confirmed that the promise extends well beyond early drilling. Eighteen auger holes returned intercepts up to 22.4% TiO₂ and 13,074 ppm TREO, reinforcing the continuity of near-surface mineralization. “These results provide further evidence of the remarkable continuity and size potential of the global exploration target at Tiros,” Eager said in the release.

From the air, the deposit traces a vast geologic ribbon across nearly 71 kilometres of strike length. “We’ve drilled about 7% of the deposit,” he told Clausi, “but we’ve done scout drilling. Radiometrics work quite well—we’ve got low uranium and thorium, but enough to give a radiometric signature.” The company controls nearly 500 square kilometres of concessions over the Capacete Formation, mapped across the region.

For Eager, a mining engineer by training, the project’s simplicity is its genius. “From a mining engineer perspective, it’s cut-and-fill mining with rehabilitation as you go,” he said. “It’s friable, free-digging, no drill-and-blast, at surface, with very little stripping ratio.” The challenge, he admits, lies not in the pit but in the processing. “The real intellect and brains behind this project are the metallurgists,” he added. “We beneficiate the ore, separate the coarse fraction of the titanium dioxide, and purify it for the pigment market. The finer fraction is leached for rare earths and more titanium dioxide—this second stream is applicable to the titanium metals market.”

Titanium, as Eager reminds us, is ubiquitous. “It’s the white pigment in plastics, paints, and anything with a white base,” he said. “The titanium pigment market is worth about US $20 billion a year—a large, deep market that can’t be manipulated by one group, such as the Chinese.” The company also sees potential downstream opportunities as titanium technologies evolve. “You can take titanium dioxide, remove the oxygen, and get titanium metal. Traditionally this was done using the Kroll process, but now there are newer technologies producing titanium metal powder for 3D printing of titanium components.”

Resouro’s deposit even contains minor scandium, used in high-performance alloys and additive manufacturing. “Titanium is increasingly used in cars, too—lighter, stronger, non-corrosive compared to steel,” he said. “It’s more expensive, but new technologies and economies of scale are bringing down the cost.”

Publicly listed across Australia, Canada, and the U.S., Resouro maintains a market capitalization of about C$40 million. “About 50% of our shares are ADRs on the Australian market and 50% on the Canadian market,” Eager noted. The next major catalyst, he said, is the Preliminary Economic Assessment, being completed by Osenco and SGS Gol in Brazil. “We’re focusing on the high-grade zone—130 million tonnes at surface. The PEA will be based on 500,000 tonnes per annum of ore,” he said, adding that final rare earth leach testing is under way at SGS Lakefield in Canada. “Once that’s complete, we’ll have enough confidence to publish.”

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