Solis Minerals (ASX: SLM) has agreed to acquire a 93,000-hectare district-scale lithium exploration package in Minas Gerais, Brazil, from a subsidiary of Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) for US$500,000 and a 1.75% net smelter return royalty.
The ground sits within the Araçuaí–Salinas Lithium Valley, directly adjacent to PLS Group’s (ASX: PLS) tenure in one of Brazil’s fastest-growing hard-rock lithium districts, giving Solis a new energy metals foothold alongside its copper portfolio in Peru.
Solis said historical work completed by Rio Tinto had already outlined significant geochemical anomalies and mapped pegmatite-related indicators at several targets, with Mandacaru and Campo Grande considered suitable for immediate drill testing.
The company is fully funded for an initial drilling program and plans to move quickly into mapping, geochemical sampling, geophysics and scout diamond drilling across the highest-priority targets.
Second Energy Metals Front Added
The acquisition expands Solis’ interests outside Peru while adding lithium exposure to a strategy previously centred on copper exploration, including the planned drilling of its Cinto and Cucho projects.
Chief executive officer Mitch Thomas said the Brazil lithium project gave Solis a “substantial and strategic foothold in one of the world’s emerging hard-rock lithium districts, directly alongside ground where the company’s leadership team had previously delivered major lithium exploration success.”
“This high potential asset complements our copper portfolio and positions us with a diversified pipeline of high-impact energy metal opportunities,” he added.
The company also pointed to the regional experience of an executive group that had previously delivered exploration, development, and divestment success in the same district and the technical, regulatory, and community knowledge it possessed relevant to fast-tracking the new asset.
Solis has also signed a collaboration agreement with PLS—its largest shareholder, with 5.1% of the company—giving PLS a participation right over any future transaction involving the tenements if a bona fide third-party offer is received and formal transaction terms are agreed.
Mandacaru and Campo Grande Early Targets
Solis said its technical review of Rio Tinto’s work confirmed the project was underexplored but already displayed multiple indicators of a fertile lithium system, including favourable host rocks, structural settings and strong surface geochemistry.
At Mandacaru, soil samples returned up to 362 parts per million lithium and auger drilling delivered up to 338ppm lithium, supported by elevated rubidium, caesium, tantalum and tin values that Solis said could indicate proximity to lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatite mineralisation.
Pegmatite and aplitic float have also been mapped at surface at Mandacaru, with lithium dispersion patterns resembling anomalies seen at the Colina lithium project and the Salinas corridor.
Campo Grande returned soil anomalies of up to 276ppm lithium, rock samples of up to 293ppm lithium, and auger results of up to 294ppm lithium, with strong fractionation indicators again including elevated rubidium, caesium, and tin.
Deal Opens Near-Term Drill Path
The acquisition terms call for Solis to pay the US$500,000 purchase price on signing binding definitive agreements, with completion expected within 60 days after a 14-day legal due diligence period, subject to customary statutory and regulatory approvals.
Solis said Rio Tinto had generated a substantial early technical dataset across the package including 18 auger drill holes, 1,814 soil samples, and 324 rock-chip samples, providing a foundation for rapid follow-up exploration.
Over the next six months the company plans to complete detailed mapping, potential drone-based magnetic and topographic surveys, and an initial scout diamond drilling program of about 13 shallow holes for roughly 2,000m across Mandacaru and Campo Grande.
Subject to those initial results, Solis will then assess the timing and scope of follow-up drilling later in 2026 as it works to advance the Brazil lithium project toward discovery while maintaining exploration momentum across its broader South American battery materials portfolio.
