St George Mining Ltd (ASX:SGQ, OTC:SGQMF) has kicked off environmental permitting for a potential rare earths and niobium mining operation at its 100%-owned Araxá Project in Minas Gerais, Brazil.
The company has submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Impact Report (RIMA) to the State Environmental Foundation of Minas Gerais (FEAM), beginning the first stage of the state's three-part licensing process.
The submissions cover a potential greenfields development comprising open-pit mining and a new industrial complex incorporating mineral processing, refining and metallurgical plants, as well as waste, tailings and supporting infrastructure.
Environmental permitting is progressing alongside a feasibility study being led by Worley and an assessment of alternative development options, including the potential use of existing regional processing facilities.
Schematic diagram showing the areas assessed for the potential mining operation and
industrial complex at Araxá.
Three-stage permitting process
St George is seeking the Preliminary Licence (LP), the first of three environmental approvals required for development.
The LP assesses the project's environmental feasibility and approves its proposed location and concept. It is followed by an Installation Licence, which allows construction, and an Operation Licence authorising production once environmental requirements have been met.
St George expects, based on industry experience, that the Preliminary and Installation Licence stages could be completed within 12 months.
The Operation Licence would follow construction, which the company currently estimates could be completed in the second half of 2029, subject to approvals and a final investment decision. The timetable relates to the greenfields development scenario.
Executive chairman John Prineas said the permitting milestone advanced Araxá further along the development pathway, pointing to near-surface mineralisation, established regional infrastructure and the proposed operation's potentially relatively small mining footprint.
Environmental studies completed
The EIA and RIMA represent the culmination of around 14 months of studies and fieldwork and extend to approximately 800 pages.
The work covers the project's physical, biological and socio-economic environment, as well as radiological baseline studies and proposed environmental mitigation, control and monitoring programs.
The proposed project assessed in the studies includes East and West open pits, processing facilities, waste and tailings infrastructure and associated site facilities.
Large rare earths and niobium resource
The permitting process follows an August resource upgrade at Araxá in what the company says is the largest and highest-grade hard-rock rare earths resource in South America.
The project hosts a JORC 2012 Mineral Resource of 111.2 million tonnes at 3.57% total rare earth oxides (TREO), 0.68% neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) and 0.57% niobium pentoxide (Nb₂O₅) at a 2% TREO cut-off.
Of this, 75.2 million tonnes at 3.64% TREO and 0.58% Nb₂O₅ sit in the Measured and Indicated categories, representing about 68% of the total resource.
The entire resource lies within about 120 metres of surface and is considered potentially amenable to open-pit mining, although no Ore Reserve or detailed mine design has yet been reported.
Next steps
St George will continue advancing the Worley-led feasibility study alongside permitting, metallurgical test work and evaluation of alternative development pathways using existing regional processing infrastructure.
Infill and extension drilling is also continuing across Araxá, including work in the northern and western sectors to test lateral and depth extensions and drilling east of the existing resource to identify potential new mineralised areas. Metallurgical studies remain underway.
