Equinox Resources has struck high grades at Mata da Corda in Brazil, one of the hottest rare earths locations on the planet

Brazil is hotting up as the new epicentre of rare earth discoveries, with super high grades being uncovered across the country.

Equinox Resources (ASX:EQN) itself has pegged a huge 1760km2 landholding in the emerging Bahia State’s Rocha da Rocha rare earths district for its Campo Grande project – where Gina Rinehart’s Brazilian Rare Earths (ASX:BRE), Australian Mines (ASX:AUZ) and Gold Mountain (ASX:GMN) have all laid claims.

EQN recently raised $4m to accelerate exploration of its Matas da Corda and Campo Grande REE projects after jumping into the region in November last year.

Initial assay results from surface clay and channel clay samples at Mata da Corda have returned exceptionally high REE grades, with over 10km2 of the project area sampled returning >2000 ppm total rare earth oxides (TREO).

The explorer is progressing planning on identified drill targets and expediting land access and environmental authorisation so it can commence drilling in late June/early July, where multiple initial surface samples returned exceptionally high grades up to 5,024ppm TREO.

1432m comprised of 126 auger drill holes and three RC drill holes have been completed to date on the Rio Negro prospect.

The first RC hole intersected a 41m-thick layer of predominantly reddish, magnetic clay, transitioning to hard rock with varying magnetic intensities, reaching a depth of 120m below the surface. The second hole encountered an 11m-thick layer of similarly coloured magnetic clay.

Further mapping is being carried out at the northern part of Campo Grande, just 10km from BRE’s Monte Alto discovery, which has shown the highest-grade results to date – returning up to 40.5% TREO.

“It’s great to be back in Brazil with the team to oversee the wrap-up of the maiden drilling campaign at Rio Negro and to plan the maiden drilling campaign at Mata da Corda,” EQN CEO Zac Komur says.

“Exceptional progress continues to be made by our team with a total of 1432m completed as part of our maiden drill campaign, as we continue to build a comprehensive geological profile of the prospect and region.

“We eagerly anticipate the drill assay results which are expected in about four weeks, along with additional surface sample results from the region, to help us identify our next prospect.

“I will be accompanying the team across the vast tenements as we identify our next prospect at Campo Grande, following geophysical anomalies.”

“Following on from our groundbreaking discovery at our Mata da Corda project, the team is moving quickly, with plans to commence multiple auger drill campaigns in late June,” Komur says.

“We are excited about Equinox Resources’ Brazilian projects, as we have the full suite of REE mineralisation; including hard rock, monazite sand, and ionic clays.”