St George Mining has achieved a significant milestone by delivering Brazil’s first bulk rare earths sample to a Government backed project tasked with commercialising Brazil’s sizeable rare earths endowment to create a magnet manufacturing facility. The MagBras project is a public-private initiative based in Minas Gerais, Brazil.
The 30kg rare earths oxalate sample, derived from the company’s 100%-owned Araxá project, marks St George as a frontrunner in Brazil’s emerging rare earths supply chain.
The Araxá project has a serious mineral resource estimate of 40.64 million tonnes (Mt) at a sizeable grade of 4.13 per cent total rare earths oxide.
Notably it also has another resource dimension, with 41.20Mt at 0.68 per cent niobium pentoxide, making it potentially a world-class asset ideally positioned to meet growing global demand for both commodities.
The MagBras project, supported by the National Service of Industrial Learning (SENAI) and the Minas Gerais Research Development Foundation (Fundep), aims to industrialise Brazil’s vast rare earths endowment - the world’s third largest – to reduce the nation’s reliance on imported high performance magnets.
Managed by the Federation of Industries of Minas Gerais (FIEMG), MagBras collaborates with rare earths developers such as St George and end-users, including automakers Stellantis and Iveco, to build an integrated magnet supply chain.
St George’s memorandum of understanding (MoU) with MagBras - signed last October - facilitates cooperation on research, development and potential supply of high-grade rare earths from Araxá for high-performance magnet production.
The company is also exploring downstream partnerships in the US, where interest in Brazil’s niobium and rare earths is surging.
The US Government, under the Trump Administration, is pursuing a trade deal to secure Brazil as a key supplier of critical metals, driven by efforts to establish non-Chinese supply chains.
St George says recent US Department of Defence support for American rare earths miner MP Materials by paying US$110/kg for combined neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) highlights a shift toward pricing that fosters industry growth.
St George Mining executive chairman John Prineas said: “The recent supply chain intervention by the US Department of Defence through its multi-billion dollar deal with NYSE-listed MP Materials illustrates the role that public-private partnerships will likely play as geopolitical moves trigger a re-alignment of the global rare earths market status quo.
Prineas says the company is seeing strong support in Brazil from government and industries to build a domestic supply chain for rare earths.
St George’s Araxá project is strategically located a stone’s throw north of the massive niobium mine operated by Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração (CBMM).
The two projects occupy the same Barreiro carbonatite complex, a geological formation known for hosting significant niobium and rare earths mineralisation.
CBMM’s operation primarily extracts niobium from pyrochlore, with rare earths present as secondary commodities alongside barium and thorium. The company supplies about 80 per cent of the global niobium market.
That proximity potentially provides St George with access to established infrastructure and a skilled workforce, enhancing its overall development potential.
St George is advancing its Araxá project with an extensive drilling program, including over 9000 metres of diamond drilling to infill and expand its known resources and associated mineralisation.
Mineralisation currently remains open in all directions and the infill drilling aims to increase confidence in the resources and elevate existing inferred resources to indicated status.
The project’s high-grade mineralisation, which shows up to 8 per cent niobium pentoxide and 33 per cent TREO, underscores its potential as a global supplier.
The company is keeping five drill rigs busy and expects its first assay results shortly. Meanwhile, ongoing metallurgical studies aim to optimise the flowsheet for rare earths production.
Its collaboration with SENAI and FIEMG positions Araxá to contribute significantly to both local and global markets, particularly as geopolitical shifts drive demand for reliable, non-Chinese rare earths and niobium sources.
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By Doug Bright
