The region is mainly underlain by Neoproterozoic and Cretaceous rock units, which are partly covered by Cenozoic sandstones, lateritic sediments and soils. The oldest rocks are represented by the Bambuí Group, which comprises the marine deposits of the Paraopeba Formation, the Serra de Santa Helena Formation and the Serra de Saudade Formation, including the glauconitic siltstone unit. Variegated siltstones and sandstones dominate all of these units. The Serra da Saudade Formation consists of carbonate and siliclastic sediments that were deposited in an epicontinental platform in the late Neoproterozoic (700 My – 600 My). The overlying Três Marias Formation is composed of arkosic sandstones.

The glauconitic siltstone unit occurs mainly at the top of the Serra da Saudade Formation and underlies the Areado Group sandstone. The glauconitic siltstone occurs in extensive outcrops, along both banks of Indaiá River, in a trend of approximately 120 km x 20 km in area. It covers the regions and municipalities of Santa Rosa da Serra and São Gotardo (SW), Matutina, Quartel de São João and Cedro do Abaeté (center), Paineiras and Biquinhas (NE), in the State of Minas Gerais.

The thickness of the glauconitic siltstone unit varies from 15 m to 80 m in the southernmost domain, to over 50 m in the northern half of the Serra da Saudade range. The lower contact with the siltstone of the Serra da Saudade Formation is transitional (2 m to 3 m in width) and contains intercalations of limestone lenses and calciferous siltstone.

Despite the folds found in the outcrops, no minerals, metamorphic structures or evidence of deformation were identified in the thin sections. The natural fragmentation in the outcrops is due to the fractures and bedding surfaces. Therefore, the Project’s mineralization is now referred to as a glauconitic siltstone.

The glauconitic siltstone unit is the target rock type across the VERDE group of permits as it contains a high content of K2O. It is a fine-grained siltstone, usually laminated, alternating with more massive levels and a few intercalations of dark-green argillite sheets.

The glauconitic siltstone unit shows millimeter- to centimeter-thick bands that are rich in glauconite, dark green in color and interbedded with quartz-rich layers.

A petrographic study using optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, electron microprobe and scanning electron microscope was carried out upon fresh samples of glauconitic siltstone containing more than 10% of K2O, collected from diamond drilling ½ core samples. Thin section studies detected significant quantities of K bearing minerals and quartz: glauconite (40%-80%), Kfeldspar (10%-15%), quartz (10%-60%), muscovite-sericite (5%), biotite (2%), titanium oxide (<1%), manganese oxide (<1%), goethite (<1%), barium phosphate and rare-earth element phosphates (trace amounts).

As stated previously, potassium mineralization in the glauconitic siltstone unit occurs as mineral forming elements of glauconite, K-feldspar and muscovite-sericite. The glauconitic siltstone held within VERDE’s permits can be traced for the entire 120 km strike length with a potential width of up to 500 m. Enriched levels of potassium with K2O grades from 8% to 12% are associated to the glauconitic levels, dark-green in color.

The glauconitic siltstone unit is partially covered by a thin layer of sandstone of Cretaceous age in its central part. To the east it is intercalated with red to yellow pelites (argillites, rhythmites and siltstones), which forms the transition zone. The transition zone is the basal part of the glauconitic siltstone unit and outcrops by a combination of gentle folding and erosion. To the west, the glauconitic siltstone is eroded by a N-S running creek which exposes the underlying carbonaceous sandstone. To the north and to the south, the glauconitic siltstone unit is again intercalated with argillites, rhythmites and siltstones.

Normally, glauconite is considered a diagnostic element indicative of continental shelf marine environments with slow rates of accumulation. It develops as a consequence of diagenetic alteration of sedimentary deposits, bio chemical reduction and subsequent mineralogical changes affecting ironbearing micas such as biotite, and is also influenced by the decaying process of organic matter degraded by bacteria in marine animal shells. Glauconite forms under reducing conditions in sediments.

A geological model has been proposed for the potassium-rich glauconitic siltstone (MOREIRA, 2015). It is a unique type of mineralization that is known only in the Serra da Saudade Formation, Bambuí Group, in the western part of the state of Minas Gerais. Glauconite is authigenic and highly mature. The high concentration of this mineral is related to a depositional environment with a low sedimentation rate. The glauconitic siltstone has resulted from a high-level flooding event in the Bambuí Basin. The sedimentary provenance is from supracrustal felsic elements on continental margin environment with acid magmatic arc (foreland basin).

The Cerrado Verde Project as a conventional open pit operation, with the following characteristics:
- Both ore and waste mining will be performed using hydraulic excavators. As a precautionary measure, it has been assumed that 30% of the ore and 30% of the waste will be mined after a drilling and blasting operation;
- Loading and hauling operations, including equipment maintenance, will be conducted by a mining contractor.

The Project was divided into three distinct phases, with their respective production rates and duration:
- Phase 1: 600,000 t of final product per year, for the first 2 years;
- Phase 2: 5 Mt of final product per year, from year 3 to year 6;
- Phase 3: 25 Mt of final product per year for the remainder of the life of the mine.

The expected mass recovery is 100%.

The Group (Verde AgriTech Plc and its subsidiaries) currently has full rights to mine 482,800 tpy (since it holds mining Concessions/Permits and Environmental Licenses) and has submitted joint mining and environmental applications for an additional 2,500,000 tpy.

The Group has 3 different mine pits, each at different permitting stages and targeting different volumes:
- For Mine Pit 1, the Group is fully permitted to extract 233,000 tpy;

- Totalling 200,000 tpy fully permitted to be extracted in Mine Pit 2;

- For Mine Pit 3, the Group is fully permitted to extract 49,800 tpy. The Group has applied for a further Mining Concession of 2,500,000 tpy and a further 2,500,000 tpy Preliminary, Installation and Operation Environmental License.

The Project will consist of 3 phases with distinct processing rates: 600 Ktpy, 5 Mtpy and 25 Mtpy. The ore from the mine will have a top size of 500 mm. The processing circuit consists of crushing, sifting and grinding stages, during all three phases.

In July 2018, Verde announced the start-up of the processing plant.

In October 2019, the Plant 1 expansion was concluded, increasing production capacity to 500,000 tpy.

In October 2020, the Group concluded a new expansion project to Plant 1, which enables the combination of two additional nutrients to the Product according to the specific needs of each customer’s crop, enhancing its effectiveness.