St George delivers maiden Brazil niobium and rare | Australian Markets

St George Mining has delivered a maiden useful resource estimate for its Araxa carbonatite-hosted niobium and rare earths deposit from the world’s premier niobium-producing area within the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

The estimate includes a globally vital deposit containing 280,000 tonnes of niobium pentoxide and 1.7 million tonnes of complete rare earths oxides (TREO), that are each in high international demand.

The JORC-compliant estimate was accomplished by impartial geological consultancy E2M Ltd, a division of Sahara Natural Resources.

The full useful resource definition embraces 41.2Mt at 0.68 per cent (or 6800 components per million) niobium pentoxide and 40.6Mt at 4.13 per cent (or 41,300ppm) TREO.

St George says it sees vital potential to develop the useful resource. Proven high grades within the dataset have run as high as 8.29 per cent niobium pentoxide and up to 32.98 per cent TREO, with mineralisation remaining open in all instructions.

The company says the deposit’s potential could possibly be higher by an “order of magnitude” scale. Its vital exploration potential is supported by intercepts beneath 100 metres from floor and additionally in deeper recent rock which haven’t been included within the useful resource estimate.

Drilling at our project has intersected phenomenal grades exceeding 80,000ppm niobium oxide – or 8% Nb2O5 – and round 330,000ppm or 33% complete rare earth oxide. It is no surprise that with these drill outcomes the useful resource estimate now outlined on the project additionally represents among the many highest grade niobium and rare earth deposits within the world immediately.

Additionally, 100 per cent of the Araxá useful resource lies within a weathered profile and 95.8 per cent of it’s above 100m depth from floor.

This factors to the maiden useful resource being virtually all free-dig, which ought to translate into a low-cost, open pit mining operation which will additionally ship good-looking early grade runs and money circulate earlier than the company transitions to unweathered rock.

This mixture of elements is additional enhanced by the useful resource’s high magnet rare earth oxides (MREO) content material, with the mixed neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium making up 19.09 per cent of the estimated TREO useful resource.

St George envisions a beneficial development route by way of the project’s location in a area very accustomed to mining that provides good logistics and a expert workforce.

The company already has an engineering, procurement, construction and finance contract in place to facilitate the financing that’s essential to understand large-scale renewable power initiatives.

St George is already planning additional drilling for useful resource growth, to increase some or all of the prevailing useful resource classes and to help its mine development research to determine a mine on the project.

The mine development drilling would additionally logically comprise infill and extension drilling and embody phases of metallurgical, engineering and later wall sterilisation drilling.

Additional later short-hole drill testing will likely be required to determine the extent and optimum sample for a future pre-mining, high-density grade control drill program.

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