St George’s Araxá Acquisition and EPC Partnership De-Risk Niobium-REE Development

Acquisition and Resource Milestone

St George Mining Limited (ASX: SGQ) has marked a pivotal step in its evolution by completing the acquisition of the Araxá niobium-rare earth elements (REE) project in Minas Gerais, Brazil. This project sits within the same carbonatite complex as CBMM’s mine, which dominates global niobium supply, producing roughly 80% of the world’s output. The strategic location benefits from established infrastructure and a skilled local workforce, positioning St George to accelerate development.

On 1 April 2025, the company announced its maiden JORC 2012 Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for Araxá, revealing a globally significant resource containing 41.2 million tonnes at 0.68% Nb2O5 and 40.6 million tonnes at 4.13% total rare earth oxides (TREO). This equates to approximately 280,000 tonnes of niobium oxide and 1.7 million tonnes of TREO, with high-grade zones open in all directions, suggesting substantial upside potential beyond the current resource.

Strategic EPC+F Partnership and Capital Raising

To underpin the project’s development, St George has entered into a binding Memorandum of Understanding with Shandong Xinhai Mining Technology & Equipment Inc, a globally recognized EPC+F contractor with extensive mining sector experience. Xinhai’s $8 million investment in St George’s recent $20 million placement aligns their interests closely with shareholders and provides a pathway to fixed-price engineering, procurement, construction, and financing solutions.

This partnership not only de-risks the project’s delivery but also brings metallurgical expertise and project construction capabilities critical to advancing Araxá from resource to production.

Building a World-Class Team and Advancing Metallurgy

St George has assembled a formidable in-country team, recruiting industry veterans from CBMM with over 80 years of combined experience in niobium mining and processing. Key appointments include Ricardo Nardi, former Head of Mineral Processing at CBMM, and Carlos Araujo, an industrial project specialist who led CBMM’s advanced processing plant construction.

Complementing this expertise, bench-scale metallurgical testwork has commenced using representative samples from historical drilling. Conducted in collaboration with Brazilian scientific agencies SENAI and EMBRAPII, these studies aim to optimize flotation parameters and recovery rates, essential for defining the processing flowsheet and commercial viability of niobium, rare earths, and valuable by-products.

Strategic Partnerships and Market Positioning

St George continues to strengthen its strategic position through partnerships, including a technical co-venture with EMBRAPII and SENAI for sustainable processing development and a Memorandum of Understanding with Liaoning Fangda Group, a major steelmaker and mining equipment manufacturer, for potential offtake and project collaboration.

Benchmarking against peers, Araxá’s rare earth resource compares favorably with established global deposits such as Mt Weld and Mountain Pass, underscoring its strategic importance amid shifting geopolitical dynamics in the rare earths market.

Exploration and Corporate Developments

Beyond Araxá, St George is advancing exploration at its Australian projects. Planned airborne magnetic surveys and drilling programs at the Destiny and Mt Alexander projects aim to identify new mineralisation targets for gold, nickel, lithium, and rare earths. Encouraging lithium anomalies at the Bunningonia project have prompted follow-up drilling scheduled for Q2 2025.

On the corporate front, shareholder approval for the Araxá acquisition was overwhelmingly secured at the February 2025 Extraordinary General Meeting. The subsequent $20 million placement has bolstered the company’s cash position, supporting approximately 2.4 quarters of funding based on current operating outflows and investment commitments.