St George bolsters cavalry to fast-track Brazil niobium-REE delivery

St George Mining has bolstered its in-house cavalry by appointing an ex-CBMM engineering manager from a neighbouring industry-leading niobium plant to fast-track the delivery of niobium and rare earth elements from its Araxá project in Brazil.

Industrial project specialist Carlos Alberto de Araújo managed the design, construction and commissioning of Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração’s (CBMM) niobium mine, the world’s biggest, next door to St George’s Araxá project. 

He has a stellar track record in designing and managing processing operations for niobium, phosphate and rare earths and spent 15 years at CBMM. Before that, Mr Alberto de Araújo honed his expertise as an industrial engineer at Mosaic’s nearby Araxá phosphate project for more than 20 years.

St George says his specialist knowledge of the region and its mineralisation style will help the company quickly build development studies for the project.

St George Mining executive chairman John Prineas said: “Mr Araújo’s extensive experience working at the neighbouring CBMM and Mosaic plants will be invaluable as St George formulates an integrated and efficient engineering solution for the Araxá project that can deliver optimal operational performance with a high level of safety and reliability.”

Araújo is the latest CBMM alumnus to jump the fence after St George appointed Ricardo Maximo Nardi as a minerals processing consultant earlier this month. Nardi spent almost 40 years in upper management and leadership positions at the company, including mineral processing, niobium oxide production, metallurgy analysis, product innovation, offtake specification and new technological developments.

Collectively, Araújo and Nardi bring more than 55 years of experience working at CBMM’s world-class niobium mine.

The appointments complement St George’s recent strategic partnership with the global mining engineering firm, Shandong Xinhai Mining, which includes an engineering, procurement and construction contract.

Xinhai is now one of St George’s biggest shareholders after tipping in $8 million into a recent $20m capital raise earmarked to complete St George’s acquisition of the Araxá project next month. The company’s confidence in St George will see it retain exclusive distribution and marketing rights for 80 per cent of Araxá’s niobium supply in China.

Under the recently signed binding memorandum of understanding, Xinhai will provide St George with comprehensive mine development expertise, including metallurgical testing and mineral processing optimisation, plant design and construction, project development and non-dilutive funding procurement.

St George picked up the niobium-rich Araxá project, in the Brazilian State of Minas Gerais, for $33m and 100 million shares from Toronto-listed fertiliser specialist Itafos in August last year. 

The project sits in the Barreiro carbonatite region, which is known as the world’s dress circle location for niobium. The complex also includes CBMM’s 896-million-tonne Araxá niobium mine running at 1.49pc niobium pentoxide and Mosaic’s Araxá phosphate mine that holds 519 million tonnes of niobium, grading at 13.4pc.

St George’s project sings from the same geological song book with its extensive near-surface niobium, rare earths and phosphate mineralisation already confirmed from historical drilling. Notable results include more than 500 intercepts featuring niobium grades of more than 1pc niobium ranging up to ultra-high grades of 8pc niobium, 33pc total rare earth oxides and 32pc phosphate.

Niobium, rare earths and phosphate are a trifecta of minerals on the growing global critical minerals list that have been classified as vital to modern technologies, economies or national security.

Armed with a $20m war chest and strategic alliance with global mining engineering Xinhai, St George is assembling some high-calibre in-house expertise to fast-track development of its Araxá niobium-rare earths project in Brazil with its guns trained on achieving optimal efficiency, profitability and environmental standards at the project.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au