St George Mining (ASX: SGQ) has continued to strengthen ties in the US with the appointment of leading Washington DC government relations advisory firm Ervin Graves Strategy Group.
The team at Ervin Graves has worked at the highest level of US Government and includes the Chief of Staff to the Secretary of War at the time the watershed multi-billion dollar funding package by the Pentagon for MP Materials was announced.
St George’s 100%-owned Araxá rare earths-niobium project in Minas Gerais, Brazil, already boasts a world-class MRE of 40.6Mt @ 4.13% TREO – the largest and highest-grade carbonatite-hosted rare earth deposit in South America and second-highest grade in the Western world – and is well-positioned geographically in the Western Hemisphere to deliver sought-after rare earths and niobium to US supply chains.
The latest initiatives by the US Government to secure a reliable rare earths supply chain include:
- US$1.6 billion funding package for USA Rare Earth (NASDAQ: USAR), which includes the US Government taking a 10% equity stake in USAR; and
- US$465 million loan to Serra Verde to assist with development of the Pela Ema rare earths mine in Brazil.
John Prineas, St George Mining’s executive chairman, commented:
“Our 100%-owned Araxá project aligns closely with US policy to support development of critical minerals in the Western world.
“We are excited to have engaged Ervin Graves to progress the potential for St George to attract government funding support and downstream industry partnerships in the US.
“Ervin Graves’ expertise and successful track record in the critical minerals policy space underscore its capability to strengthen St George’s position as an emerging player in the US critical minerals supply chain.
“The Araxá project hosts a high-grade, hard-rock rare earths resource that is the same style of deposit as the two major rare earths mines outside of China – the Mt Weld mine of Lynas Corporation and MP Materials’ Mountain Pass in the US. Araxá is already comparable to these deposits in terms of volume and grade, with successful ongoing drilling pointing to the potential for a large resource upgrade.
“In addition to hosting one of the highest-rated rare earths deposits in the world, the Araxá Project contains a large high-grade niobium resource – a top 10 critical mineral in the US, which has no domestic niobium mining operations but is committed to securing its own new supply chains.
“With a location in an established mining region, existing infrastructure and supportive community stakeholders, the Araxá project stands out among its peers as having the potential for a fast-track to development and to emerge as a near-term contributor to critical minerals supply chains being established in Brazil and the US.”
