Paraíba Hard Rock Rutile Project
Location: Paraíba, Brazil | Ownership: 100% Liberty Metals Limited
The Paraiba Project is a primary, hard-rock rutile project located in the state of Paraíba in northeastern Brazil. This project comprises six concessions and covers an area of 120 km². It is distinct from typical HMS deposits and represents a unique opportunity to explore for high-grade, in-siturutile mineralisation. The state of Paraíba is a known producer of titanium minerals, with established infrastructure and a measured reserve of 1,137,000 tonnes of rutile.
Locations for the Paraiba, Rio Grande and Alcobaca Projects in Brazil.
The project is situated within the Borborema Province, a geological area that was once part of the Gondwana supercontinent, linked to what is now Cameroon. This shared geology is important because both regions have high-grade metamorphic rocks known for primary rutile mineralisation.
The rutile mineralisation is hosted within Paleoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic high-grade metamorphic rocks, specifically the Sertânia Complex and the Camalaú Granitic Suite. The formation of rutile occurred under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions (amphibolite to granulite facies), associated with the Pan-African-Brasiliano mountain-building events that facilitated the recrystallisation and concentration of titanium into economic deposits.
Project location, concessions and reconnaissance lag sampling with rutile purity on geology, Paraiba Rutile Project.
Initial reconnaissance and sampling of in-situ rutile crystals from the Paraiba project have returned exceptionally high-grade results, confirming the presence of very high-purity mineralisation. X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis yielded the following outstanding results.
| Sample | TiO₂ (%) | Fe₂O₃ (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Sample 1 | 94.7 | 3.2 |
| Sample 2 | 93.6 | 3.5 |
| Sample 3 | 93.2 | 4.5 |
| Sample 4 | 90.8 | 7.0 |
X-ray Diffraction (XRD) testing confirmed rutile as the dominant phase, up to 81.9% rutile content, with ilmenite as a valuable secondary mineral. These results demonstrate the project’s potential to yield a premium titanium feedstock.