St George Mining (ASX: SGQ) has announced a major advance in downstream studies for rare earths from its 100%-owned Araxá Project in Minas Gerais, Brazil.
The company has delivered a bulk sample of rare earths material to MagBras – the first delivery of its kind by a rare earths project developer in Brazil. MagBras is a public-private initiative to establish a rare earths magnet-making facility in Brazil. In addition to St George, other rare earths project developers in Brazil as well as magnet end-users – including global automakers Stellantis and Iveco – have joined the MagBras Project.
St George has signed an MoU with MagBras to cooperate on research, development and production of rare earth magnets with potential to supply high-grade rare earths material from the Araxá project.
St George is also assessing opportunities to establish downstream partnerships in the US and other countries as governments around the world strive to establish reliable new supply chains. The company’s Araxá project – with its large-scale and high-grade rare earths and niobium deposits – is ideally positioned to benefit from growing US interest in sourcing niobium and rare earths supply from Brazil.
Resource infill and expansion drilling is underway at Araxá. Five rigs are completing an extensive auger, reverse circulation and diamond drilling campaign to extend the known areas of mineralisation (which is open in all directions) and complete infill drilling to convert Inferred resources to the Indicated category.
St George has already defined a globally significant Mineral Resource at Araxá of 40.64Mt @ 4.13% TREO and 41.2 Mt @ 0.68% Nb₂O₅.
Araxá is located in the Brazilian State of Minas Gerais, a Tier 1 mining jurisdiction, and within a region with a long history of commercial mining operations, ready access to power and transport infrastructure, a skilled workforce and a proven route to market.
“We were honoured last year when SENAI and FIEMG selected St George as a partner for MagBras – Brazil’s first proposed REE permanent magnet facility,” executive chairman John Prineas said.
“We are now delighted to be the first rare earths miner in Brazil to provide a rare earths product to MagBras for downstream studies into magnet production in Brazil.
“The recent supply chain intervention by the US Department of Defense through its multi-billion dollar deal with NYSE-listed MP Materials illustrates the role that public-private partnerships will likely play as geopolitical moves trigger a re-alignment of the global rare earths market status quo.
“In Brazil, we are seeing strong support from government and industries to build a domestic supply chain for rare earths – and St George is proud to contribute to that initiative.
“Our 100%-owned Araxá project has a world-class hard-rock rare earths resource. The two major rare earths mines outside of China are also hard-rock carbonatites – the Mt Weld mine of Lynas Corporation and MP Materials’ Mountain Pass. We are confident the extensive drill campaign underway at the Araxá project, including more than 9,000m of diamond drilling, will further highlight the tremendous potential of our world-class ore body.
“The Araxá project has competitive advantages through favourable project logistics that support an expedited pathway to potential development. Our project is well-positioned to be a potential supplier of rare earths product for ex-China supply chains being established in Brazil and other countries.
“These unprecedented market developments underpin our potential to deliver significant, sustained value from advancing the Araxá project.”
