St George Mining (ASX: SGQ) has report further exceptional assay results from the extensive diamond drilling program at its 100%-owned Araxá rare earths and niobium project in Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Araxá already hosts the largest and highest-grade carbonatite-hosted rare earths resource in South America and the second-highest grade rare earths resource in the Western world.
Spectacular assay results – with huge true widths of continuous high-grade rare earths and niobium from surface, including the thickest mineralised interval to date – confirm the exceptional scale and continuity of the Araxá mineral system.
The latest assays for 23 diamond drill holes confirm extensive high-grade mineralisation from surface including:
AXDD120, the thickest intercept to date, with 199.5m of continuous mineralisation from surface including:
- 60m @ 3.96% TREO and 0.52% Nb₂O₅ from surface;
- 15m @ 3.30% TREO and 0.97% Nb₂O₅ from 36m; and
- 28.8m @ 1.76% TREO and 0.70% Nb₂O₅ from 116.2m
within a broader interval of 199.5m @ 2.86% TREO and 0.44% Nb₂O₅ from surface.
AXDD127 intersected 121.55m of continuous mineralisation from surface including:
- 40m @ 5.87% TREO and 0.48% Nb₂O₅ from surface; and
- 15.5m @ 8.07% TREO and 0.75% Nb₂O₅ from surface
within a broader interval of 121.55m @ 3.47% TREO and 0.39% Nb₂O₅ from surface.
AXDD115 intersected 96m of continuous mineralisation from surface including:
- 46m @ 6.14% TREO and 0.35% Nb₂O₅ from 16m; and
- 22.95m @ 8.93% TREO and 0.18% Nb₂O₅ from 37.05m
within a broader interval of 96m @ 4.19% TREO and 0.31% Nb₂O₅ from surface.
AXDD131 intersected 80.5m of continuous mineralisation from surface including:
- 38m @ 4.75% TREO and 0.19% Nb₂O₅ from 37.9m; and
- 19.9m @ 4.48% TREO and 0.62% Nb₂O₅ from 18m
within a broader interval of 80.5m @ 4.62% TREO and 0.33% Nb₂O₅ from surface.
AXDD120 entered fresh rock at a depth of 198m to reinforce the substantial vertical extent of the weathered mineralised profile and the potential for a large-scale open-pit development.
End of hole mineralisation in AXDD120 – 1m @ 4.8% TREO from 198.5m – confirms the high-grade mineral system remains open at depth.
“The remarkable result for AXDD120, which delivered almost 200 metres of continuous mineralisation from surface, highlights the tremendous scale and consistent high grade of the mineral system at Araxá,” executive chairman John Prineas said.
“Importantly, this result is not isolated. Many drill holes in our program, including seven drill holes in the latest batch of results, have returned more than 150 metres of mineralisation from surface.
“The favourable characteristics of the Araxá deposit – the combination of thickness, grade and flat-lying near-surface mineralisation – support the potential for open-pit mining and represent a compelling positive point of difference for Araxá.
“The deposit remains open at depth, with the high-grade mineralisation at the end of hole for AXDD120 indicating that we have yet to see the limit of this large mineral system.
“The latest drill results also extend the mineralised footprint to the north of the current Mineral Resource Estimate, with eight of the 23 holes drilled outside the current resource area – expanding the footprint by 200m to the north.
“The latest drill results will be incorporated into the MRE upgrade scheduled for this quarter. This new MRE will then be the platform for advancing economic studies for a potential mining operation at Araxá.
“A key commercial advantage for our project is the dual commodity opportunity, with world-class mineralisation for both rare earths and niobium.
“These commodities are highly sought after by Western economies and not surprisingly our project is attracting significant attention – from private investors and governments – given our significant scale and potential expedited pathway to production.
“The drill program at the main Araxá deposit will pause soon with upcoming drilling activities to focus on East Araxá, which is the discovery made by St George 1km east of the main deposit. We expect resource definition drilling at East Araxá to result in a further MRE upgrade in Q4 2026.
“With multiple project delivery workstreams in progress, it is a very busy time for our team. It means shareholders can look forward to news on project delivery milestones over the coming months.”
