St George kicks off drill assault on mammoth Brazil niobium play

St George Mining has launched a major drilling assault at its giant Araxá rare earths project in Minas Gerais, Brazil, with the company deploying three drill rigs for a substantial 10,000-metre program over the next three or so months. 

St George’s sizable undertaking follows a recently unveiled globally significant maiden resource at Araxá, comprising 40.64 million tonnes (Mt) at 4.13 per cent total rare earth oxides (TREO) and 41.2Mt at 0.68 per cent niobium pentoxide. The campaign will be carried out alongside a high-resolution airborne magnetic survey, which is set to kick off next week.

The 10,000m drilling program aims to significantly expand this resource base by combining auger, reverse circulation and diamond drilling to target the Araxá mineralisation, which remains open in all directions. The company says untested high-grade zones below 100m depth were not included in the resource. 

Historical drilling intersected more than 500 high-grade intercepts, including standout results such as a massive 60m at 11.1 per cent TREO, a substantial 43m grading 1.5 per cent niobium and a higher-grade 20m running 2.4 per cent niobium. Impressively, all these hits started at surface.

The company’s imminent drone-based airborne magnetic survey will cover the entire project area to define the carbonatite-hosted deposit’s geological model and pinpoint the extent of its niobium and rare earths targets. 

St George Mining executive chairman John Prineas said: “The Araxá project has many competitive advantages that make it a stand-out project in the rare earths and niobium space. Mineralisation starts from surface and is free-digging, supporting a potential low-cost open-pit mining operation. The project is in an established mining region with well-understood permitting and environmental management, providing an expedited pathway to potential development and strong ESG credentials.”

Araxá’s standout features include its free-dig near-surface resource, which sits almost entirely within 100m depth and is ideal for low-cost open-pit mining. 

Located in Brazil’s mining-friendly Minas Gerais state, the project sits adjacent to CBMM’s world-class niobium mine, which has a massive 896Mt at 1.49 per cent niobium. St George’s robust local infrastructure and access to a skilled workforce enabled it to secure government backing for expedited approvals and assemble a top-tier in-country team including several former CBMM executives.

The project also stacks up well against global peers such as Lynas Rare Earths’ Mt Weld mine, with its massive 106Mt at 4.1 per cent TREO, and MP Materials’ Mountain Pass, which holds 40.6Mt at 5.9 per cent TREO. 

Araxá’s 40.64Mt at 4.13 per cent TREO translates to a whopping 1.7Mt of contained TREO, including 320,000 tonnes of high-value neodymium and praseodymium and 280,000t niobium, which could be just the beginning.

With auger drilling already underway, the company is hoping the latest drilling results will further uncover what looks to be the next world-class mine to emerge from the fabled Brazilian carbonatite complex.

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