St George Mining Limited Advances Development Activities at Araxa Rare Earths Project

St George Mining Limited is making progress on its Araxa niobium-REE project in Minas Gerais, Brazil, as demand for rare earths supply chains outside of China continues to grow. Recent developments, including a landmark multi-billion dollar investment by the US Department of Defense in MP Materials, have driven interest in establishing alternative supply chains. St George's Araxa project has a significant rare earths resource, with a JORC-compliant MRE of 40.64Mt @ 4.13% TREO, and the company is committed to best practice environmental standards.

Key Takeaways:

• The Araxa project has a total JORC resource of 40.64Mt @ 4.13% TREO, a globally significant hard rock rare earths resource that could offer an alternative supply chain to the current market dominance of China.
• Field activities at Araxa are in full swing, with noise and air-quality monitoring continuing, and first assays from expansion and resource definition drilling are due shortly.
• A total of 40 auger drill holes have been completed for 512m drilled, with a further 2,500m of RC drilling and 7,200m of diamond drilling planned.
• The US Department of Defense has invested US$400m in MP Materials, securing a 15% stake and establishing a 10-year price floor commitment of US$110 per kg for NdPr products.
• St George has been selected to participate in the MAGBRAS Initiative, a program aiming to establish an integrated and sustainable rare earth products supply chain in Brazil, and has signed a cooperation agreement with the State of Minas Gerais to expedite permitting approvals.
• The Araxa Project MRE has a high NdPr grade of 7,800ppm (0.78%) with 320,000 tonnes of contained NdPr, making it a significant component of the global rare earths market.

Statistics:

• The JORC-compliant MRE for the Araxa Project is 40.64Mt @ 4.13% TREO with contained TREO of 1.7Mt.
• The high-grade niobium and rare earths mineralisation at Araxa has grades up to 82,970ppm (8.29%) Nb2O5 and 329,800ppm (32.98%) TREO.
• A total of 404 samples have been delivered to the laboratory for assaying, with first assays on 100 samples expected at the end of this month.

Sources:

• St George Mining Limited ASX Release: "High-Grade Niobium and REE JORC Resource for Araxa"
• St George Mining Limited ASX Release: "MoU to Fast-track Approvals for Araxa Project"
• St George Mining Limited ASX Release: "Downstream Partnerships for Niobium and Rare Earths"
• China's Ministry of Commerce announcement: "Introduction of export controls on certain rare earths elements and magnets"
• US Department of Defense transaction with MP Materials
• MAGBRAS Initiative announcement by the Brazilian Federal Government