St George Mining has raised a staggering $72.5 million at 10c per share to accelerate its Araxá rare earths–niobium project in Minas Gerais, Brazil that is shaping up to be one of the most significant rare earths discoveries on the planet.
Australia’s richest person and experienced miner Gina Rinehart, has tipped $22.5m into the raise courtesy of Hancock Prospecting, which has corner-stoned it. $50m was also collected from big North American and European institutions which are clearly trying to get ahead what now seems like an unstoppable resurgence in the rare earths market.
The capital raise, joint lead‑managed by Canaccord Genuity and Jett Capital Advisors, will fund a JORC resource upgrade, permitting and metallurgical test work including a large‑scale pilot plant and feasibility study work at Araxa amongst other things.
Araxá already carries a massive resource inventory of 40.6 million tonnes at 4.13 per cent total rare earth oxide (TREO) and extraordinarily, a parallel 41.2Mt at 0.68 per cent niobium pentoxide.
The project exists in a hard rock carbonatite setting that is similar to Lynas’ Mt Weld deposit in Western Australia and the revered MP Material’s Mountain Pass mine in California that recently attracted a US$500m investment from Apple and a lazy US$400m from the US Department of Defense.
While Mountain Pass is a bit of a freak in terms of grade – it comes in at about 6 per cent TREO - its resource tonnage is roughly similar to St George. Mt Weld has more tonnes but comes in at a similar grade to St George’s Araxa at around 4 per cent which is still very close to market leading for any of the big western deposits.
When it comes to tonnes however St George is on a mission to vastly increase its deposit size and recently had some significant success in that regard after discovering a new deposit about 1km east of its existing Araxa resource that looks exceptional and may, in time, boost St George’s overall resource significantly. The new deposit, known as East Araxa, is already sporting some world class intersections like 13.5m at 12.34 per cent TREO, from just half a metre in depth.
Other notable RC results delivered as recently as September 2025 have grades up to 16.87 per cent TREO and 4 per cent niobium oxide.
Some of the best intersections in that campaign were 48m at 5.71 per cent TREO from 2m and that included 15m at 12.61 per cent TREO from 4m. Another 32m hit came in at 1.04 per cent niobium oxide from 11m.
Importantly, it would appear the more lucrative magnet and heavy rare earths grades in East Araxa are even higher than the existing mineral resource estimate to the west.
Araxa’s mineralisation starts at surface and the company says about 96 per cent of it sits within 100 metres of surface, pointing to conventional open‑pit, free‑dig mining with minimal blasting and limited crushing and grinding.
Mineralisation has been discovered deeper than that but importantly, it has not yet been added to the resource estimate, setting up a potential second source of resource upgrade.
The program is not simply about adding tonnes either - St George is targeting grade quality in the magnet suite. NdPr grades at Araxá run as high as 7,800 parts per million (0.78 per cent), contributing to an estimated 320,000 tonnes of contained neodymium and praseodymium in the broader system.
Intersections in and around the resource envelope include some whoppers too like 60 metres at 11.1 per cent TREO from surface (including 30m at 16.9 per cent from 27.7m) and 45m at 14.4 per cent TREO from 15m (including 7.5m at 31.5 per cent from 40m). For niobium, the company cites 43m at 1.5 per cent from surface and 20m at 2.4 per cent from surface, with localised spikes up to 2.9 per cent in shorter near‑surface runs.
Processing readiness has moved in parallel with the drill bit. Before acquiring Araxá, St George completed piloting that produced rare‑earth oxalate at greater than 99 per cent purity and reported overall recoveries of about 86 per cent TREO, with nuisance minerals thorium and uranium mostly removed in the circuit. The company has since signed a strategic alliance with US‑based REAlloys - known for rare‑earths processing and magnet materials supply to US agencies - aimed at downstream test work and routes to offtake. In Brazil, St George has negotiated government support to expedite approvals and, under an agreement signed on 7 October 2025, will establish a Technological Centre with the Federal Centre for Technological Education of Minas Gerais (CEFET) to host a large‑scale pilot plant on the Araxá university campus.
Araxá sits in the five‑kilometre‑wide Barreiro carbonatite complex in Minas Gerais, adjacent to CBMM’s world‑leading niobium operation. The location brings practical benefits too: a skilled mining workforce in the nearby city of Araxá (about six kilometres away), established mining services and access to a power grid increasingly fed by low‑cost renewables.
Niobium also matters beyond the pit wall. Its primary role is as a micro‑alloy in high‑strength, low‑alloy steels used in pipelines, automotive panels and structural beams - small additions of niobium can significantly lift strength while trimming weight. It is also used in superconducting alloys for MRI magnets and research applications. Alongside the better-known magnet rare earths like neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium, St George has noted the presence of gallium and germanium - materials used in semiconductors, LEDs, fibre‑optic and infrared systems and both are used in the burgeoning solar industry. Tungsten is also present amongst a host of other minerals
Globally, the strategic narrative is moving St George’s way. China has introduced a series of export restrictions across the rare‑earths supply chain and the US has responded by bankrolling domestic capability,most visibly through the US Department of Defense’s US$400m funding commitment for MP Materials at Mountain Pass.
Commenting on the $22.5m in capital raised from Hancock Prospecting, St George Mining’s Executive Chairman John Prineas said “We are also very pleased that Hancock Prospecting has chosen to increase its existing shareholding in St George and emerge as a substantial shareholder. Hancock Prospecting is a company with significant experience in recognising the value in strategic commodities and backing successful critical minerals companies including MP Materials and Lynas Corporation – as well as having significant project execution and delivery experience for St George to leverage off in the future.”
Whichever way you cut it, St George’s Araxa rare earths and niobium deposit is a freak of nature with both tonnes and grade. The deposit has delivered some off‑the‑chart point grades - up to 32.98 per cent TREO and 8.29 per cent niobium oxide in individual samples - which helps explain the strong institutional interest in a project of scale with near‑surface geometry.
Rinehart and Hancock Prospecting’s backing of St George can-not be overstated either. Rare earths projects like Araxa are big – really big. And while they can make a lot of money, they also cost a lot of money to build and take significant industrial expertise of which Rinehart has both. She has successfully built on her Father Lang Hancock’s iron ore vision in Australia and has mastered the art of big bulk mining.
And with multiple large rare earths investments tucked under her belt across a multitude of projects now, Rinehart clearly believes rare earths are going to be the iron ore of the future, and just like iron ore, she and Hancock will likely be at the front of the pack when the frenzy starts – and swinging wildly from her coat-tails will likely be the $400m market capped St George Mining.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
