St George Mining Advances Minas Gerais Rare Earths Processing Centre Toward 2030

Highlights

• St George Mining and Lima & Pergher Group signed a Protocol of Intent to assess a rare earth processing centre in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, with a R$2 billion investment target.
• The proposed centre would handle multiple feedstocks—concentrate, carbonate, and oxalate—and supply downstream magnet production via Brazil's MagBras initiative.
• Araxá project holds 111.2Mt grading 3.57% TREO, including ~520,000 tonnes of NdPr oxides, providing strong geological backing for the hub model.
• No final investment decision, construction agreement, or finalized financing has been made; 2030 operations remain contingent on licensing and approvals.
• Brazil's MAGBRAS program, backed by BNDES, FIESC, and FIEMG, aims to establish a complete domestic rare earth permanent magnet production chain.

Brazil has plenty of rare earths; what it lacks is enough industrial capacity to turn them into magnet materials. St George Mining (ASX: SGQ) has signed a Protocol of Intent with Brazil’s Lima & Pergher Group (opens in a new tab) and Minas Gerais to assess a processing centre in Uberlândia capable of handling multiple rare-earth feedstocks and supplying downstream magnet production. The proposed investment comes in at roughly R$2 billion (USD388.4 million), targeting commercial operations by 2030.

REEx Insight: Brazil Targets the Missing Middle

This is strategically more important than another mine announcement. Brazil is trying to capture separation, refining, and eventually magnet manufacturing rather than exporting concentrate and importing value back. The proposed centre could accept concentrate, mixed rare-earth carbonate, and oxalate, potentially serving multiple Minas Gerais projects—not merely St George’s Araxá. It could then feed MagBras, Brazil’s effort to demonstrate an indigenous mine-to-magnet chain. Brazil’s CETEM confirms MagBras is developing the complete permanent-magnet production cycle.

That hub model could improve plant utilization and spread midstream capital costs across several mines.

The Ore Is Real. The Factory Isn't—Yet

Araxá provides unusually substantial geological backing: 111.2Mt grading 3.57% TREO, including 75.2Mt Measured & Indicated containing approximately 520,000 tonnes of NdPr oxides. But investors should separate resource from industrial reality. The processing centre has no final investment decision, definitive construction agreement, finalized financing, or disclosed commercial-scale flowsheet yet. Operations by 2030 remain a target contingent on licensing and investment approval.

The MAGBRAS Effort

The MAGBRAS project was established to develop and implement a roadmap towards national production of rare earth permanent magnets, and includes the Federations of Industries of Santa Catarina (FIESC) and Minas Gerais (FIEMG), together with the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), along with numerous private and public sector companies. Part of the Rota 2030/MOVER program, the project aims to establish a complete and permanent rare earth production chain in the country and to enable Brazil to become an important player on the world stage.

REEx takeaway: Brazil may possess the geology. The investment question is whether it can now master the chemistry.

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