Highlights
- St George Mining (ASX: SGQ) delivered its best intercept yet at Araxá: 115.65m @ 3.34% TREO & 0.34% Nb₂O₅ from surface, with zones exceeding 6–10% TREO—strengthening the case for a major resource upgrade.
- Araxá hosts South America's largest high-grade carbonatite REE resource (40.6 Mt @ 4.13% TREO) in a tier-one jurisdiction, offering Western investors a rare alternative to Chinese-dominated supply chains.
- Key de-risking milestones ahead include metallurgy results, conversion of Inferred to Indicated resources, and preliminary economics—critical for attracting institutional capital to this high-potential, pre-revenue project.
St George Mining (opens in a new tab) (ASX: SGQ) has reported its thickest and highest-grade rare earth and niobium intercept to date at the 100%-owned Araxá Project in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Hole AXDD016 delivered 115.65m from surface at 3.34% TREO and 0.34% Nb₂O₅, including zones running above 6–10% TREO.
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Two additional holes—AXDD012 and AXDD013—returned 100.1m @ 3.96% TREO and 79.7m @ 3.69% TREO, respectively, all from surface. The company now has 32 holes awaiting assays, and drilling continues 24/7.
These intercepts substantiate the continuity of Araxá’s supergene mineralization and strengthen the case for a major upgrade to the project’s 40.6 Mt @ 4.13% TREO resource—already the largest high-grade carbonatite REE resource in South America.
Why This Matters for Investors
For a Western-world REE pipeline increasingly constrained by Chinese control, Araxá stands out. Brazil’s jurisdictional strength, proximity to CBMM’s world-leading niobium complex, and government-backed permitting pathways give the project a rare alignment of grade + scale + geopolitics.
If the current drilling successfully converts large areas of the MRE from Inferred to Indicated, St George can advance to Ore Reserve estimation and economic studies—essential de-risking milestones for institutional capital.
Critical Questions for Investors
While the results are exceptional, several unknowns remain:
- Metallurgy: High-grade is only half the battle. How complex will monazite/pyrochlore processing be at scale?
- Capex/Infrastructure: Brazil offers advantages, but will costs compete with Chinese or African peers?
- Offtake Landscape: Can St George secure Western-aligned offtake, or will Chinese buyers attempt to pre-empt supply?
- NSR Royalties: Sliding-scale NSR up to 10.5% on REEs and niobium may influence project economics.
Market View: SGQ Shares Still a Speculative Build-Out Story
SGQ trades in a strong uptrend on rising volumes (latest ASX data not included in file). From a technical lens, the stock has room to consolidate before another leg higher if assays continue the pattern. Fundamentally, Araxá is pre-revenue but globally significant. The value inflection will come once:
- Metallurgy is released,
- Indicated resources rise, and
- preliminary economics show competitive margins.
Until then, St George remains a high-potential, high-risk exploration-development equity.
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