St George Mining secures downstream deals for Brazilian niobium and REE

St George Mining signs two deals with SENAI for downstream processing in Brazil
Project positioned as potential supplier of niobium and rare earths
Araxá acquisition expected to wrap up in Q1 2025

Special Report: St George Mining has signed two memorandums of understanding with Brazilian REE permanent magnet maker, SENAI, for downstream niobium and rare earths processing in country of ore from its recently acquired Araxá project.

In August, St George Mining (ASX:SGQ) picked up the project, for which it has high hopes given its premium location immediately adjacent to CBMM’s Araxá, the world’s largest producer of niobium by the length of a straight.

Historical exploration has already discovered extensive high-grade niobium and REE mineralisation, with drilling returning >500 intercepts of +1% niobium with ultra-high grades of up to 8% niobium and 33% total rare earth oxides.

Plus, mineralisation starts at surface and is open in all directions, providing plenty of room for expansion given that less than 10% of Araxá has been effectively drilled and drilling beyond 50m from surface has been limited.

The project could be well placed to play an important role in Brazil’s critical metals supply chain, with this MOU with SENAI covering research, development and production of rare earth magnets at the Lab Fab facility established by SENAI in Minas Gerais – the first permanent magnet making facility in Brazil and Latin America.

The Lab Fab facility is operated by the Federation of the Industries of Minas Gerais (FIEMG) and is scheduled to begin production this year with initial capacity to produce 100 tonnes of permanent magnets per year and plans to double that capacity within the first 3 years.

The MoU will also consider the sustainable processing and manufacturing of niobium and rare earths products.

Local support for Araxá

Unsurprisingly, this isn’t the first MoU the company has secured for the project.

In October, SGQ signed a deal with state agency Invest Minas to accelerate regulatory approvals for Araxá, and earlier this year made a deal with global trading house SKI Hong Kong to support development of the project by establishing the framework for collaboration on marketing, offtake and financing aspects of the project with the goal of progressing feasibility studies for a mine development.

The company says these partnerships recognise the large-scale and high-grade niobium and rare earths mineralisation at Araxá, and its expedited pathway to potential project development and mining.

“We continue to build a strong platform to drive the Araxá project forward and deliver the successful development of a mining operation,” executive chairman John Prineas said.

“The partnership agreements signed with SENAI will support the development of downstream opportunities for St George – further integrating our proposed Araxá operation into Brazil’s supply chains for critical metals.

“SENAI is Brazil’s leading scientific and research organisation and has an outstanding track record of collaborating with the private sector to advance business through innovative technology.

“We are honoured to have been selected by SENAI, as well as FIEMG, as a partner for Brazil’s first and only REE permanent magnet making facility.”

Prineas said the company is delighted that SENAI has recognised the significance of the proposed Araxá operation and will work with them to optimise the efficiency and sustainability of potential mining and processing activities.

“These are important developments for the advancement of the Araxá project, and we look forward to reporting more exciting project news as we continue to build our business in Brazil in anticipation of the project acquisition completion,” he said.

St George is in the process of negotiating amendments to the agreement for the purchase of the Araxá project to allow additional time for completion of the transaction, which is now expected to close in Q1 2025.

This article was developed in collaboration with St George Mining, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.