St George’s Araxá project steps up
St George Mining is advancing its Araxá niobium-rare earths project in Brazil at a critical time for global supply chains.
This follows recent restrictions imposed by China on exports for rare earth elements and permanent magnets.
The company recently announced a maiden JORC resource of 40.64 million tonnes at 4.13 per cent total rare earth oxides (TREO), positioning Araxá as “a globally significant resource with development studies underway”.
“China’s increased restrictions on the export of rare earths and permanent magnets have significantly disrupted the global supply chains for these commodities which are critical to a wide range of sectors including defence, electric vehicles, energy, smartphones, robotics and medical equipment,” St George Mining executive chair John Prineas said.
“This development is evidence that single-source supply chains are a risk, from China or anywhere else.
“The need for a sustainable rare earths industry outside China has never been stronger.”
The Araxá deposit, located in Brazil’s Tier 1 mining jurisdiction of Minas Gerais, contains 320,000 tonnes of high-value neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr).
With mineralisation open in all directions and significant mineralisation below 100m from the surface which isn’t included in the current mineral resource, the company will drill to grow the resource.
St George is also supporting Brazil’s broader critical minerals ambitions through its participation in the MAGBRAS Initiative, which aims to develop the country’s first permanent magnet manufacturing supply chain.
The company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SKI HongKong Limited (SKI) in October 2024 to support the development of the Araxá niobium-rare earth elements project.
Under the MoU’s framework, St George and SKI will consult with each other on the marketing, offtake and financing opportunities that arise at Araxá, with the aim of progressing the project through feasibility studies for mine development.