en.Wedoany.com Reported - Australian-listed company Brazilian Critical Minerals Ltd (ASX: BCM) announced in July 2026 that it has completed a A$10 million (approximately US$6.7 million) institutional placement for its flagship Ema rare earth project, located in the southeastern part of Amazonas State, Brazil. The company stated that it will immediately commence front-end engineering design (FEED), production well drilling, and long-lead equipment procurement to advance the project toward a final investment decision (FID).
Brazilian Critical Minerals is a rare earth exploration and development company headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. The placement involves the issuance of approximately 190.1 million new shares at A$0.053 per share, conducted in two tranches: the first tranche, unconditional, raised approximately A$7.4 million, while the second tranche of approximately A$2.7 million is subject to shareholder approval at a general meeting scheduled for mid-August 2026. The company expects its cash balance to reach approximately A$14 million upon completion of the transaction. Barrenjoey Markets and Wallabi Group acted as joint lead managers for the placement.
The advancement of this placement is based on the recently completed bankable feasibility study (BFS) for the Ema project. The study indicates that Phase 1 capital expenditure is approximately US$74 million, including a 14.4% contingency and an on-site carbon capture and storage system. The carbon capture system is valued at US$19 million and is designed to recover carbon dioxide from diesel generator exhaust to produce magnesium bicarbonate. The base case scenario in the study assumes an average life-of-mine neodymium-praseodymium oxide (NdPr) price of US$108 per kilogram. Under this price assumption, the project's after-tax net present value is US$1.47 billion, with an internal rate of return of 105% and a payback period of just six months. Phase 1 construction is expected to take two years, with a designed annual processing capacity of 5,500 tonnes of total rare earth oxides (TREO) and 1,900 tonnes of permanent magnet rare earth oxides (MREO); Phase 2 plans to invest an additional US$27 million to double capacity.
The Ema project covers approximately 189 square kilometers, with the mining concession located in the Apuí region of Amazonas State. The project utilizes in-situ recovery (ISR) technology to develop ion-adsorption clay rare earth mineralization, avoiding traditional open-pit mining, waste rock dumps, and tailings storage facilities, making it the only rare earth development project in the Western world to employ this technology. The mineral resource estimate updated in April 2026 stands at 1.071 billion tonnes, with a TREO grade of 732 ppm, containing a total of 785,400 tonnes of TREO.
Brazil holds the world's second-largest rare earth reserves, second only to China. As one of the lowest capital intensity rare earth projects in the Western world, the advancement of the Ema project holds significant strategic importance for the diversification of the global rare earth supply chain. With the initiation of procurement and engineering work, the project is steadily transitioning from the exploration phase to the development and construction phase.
