Aclara Resources has completed the second tranche of its earn-in agreement, achieving full ownership of the mining rights in the Carina Module in the north-eastern part of the State of Goiás, in central Brazil.

This milestone follows the initial acquisition of a 51% interest in November 2023 from an undisclosed company.

The Carina Module, spanning 8,490 hectares, is now entirely under Aclara’s control after the company fulfilled the earn-in agreement’s conditions.

To secure the remaining 49% interest, Aclara drilled an additional 2,000m within the project area, invested a further $2m (1.97bn pesos) in exploration expenses and paid the mining rights owner another $300,000.

These efforts are on top of the initial 2,000m drilled and $1m invested in 2023, along with the initial $200,000 payment.

The agreement also includes a royalty clause, granting the previous owner a share of the profits once the Carina Module enters commercial production.

However, Aclara retains the option to buy out this royalty for $6.5m during the project's first year of commercial operation.

Aclara CEO Ramon Barua said: “We are pleased to report that we have earned 100% interest of the Carina Module mining rights.

“After only five months of announcing the discovery of the Carina Module, we have reported a material mineral resource estimate, a robust Preliminary Economic Assessment, and are in the middle of a piloting programme using Brazilian clays at our pilot plant in Concepción, Chile.

“In addition, we continue to advance the project in several fronts, including an ongoing reverse-circulation drilling campaign to increase mineral resources at depth, the initiation of the environmental and social baseline studies and the evaluation of several proposals from world-class engineering companies to prepare a pre-feasibility study.”