St George Mining (ASX: SGQ) has announced the discovery of high-grade niobium outside of the existing mineral resource estimate at its Araxá rare earths and niobium project in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state.
The new mineralisation sits 400 metres west of the resource estimate, and approximately 1.2 kilometres north of the measured and indicated component, with multiple drill holes producing results from surface to depths of more than 80m.
Samples from 29 holes are awaiting assay with a best result to date of 81.5m at 1.27% niobium pentoxide, including 43m at 2.01% niobium pentoxide from surface and 10.5m at 3.41% niobium pentoxide from 17m.
High-grade rare earths are also present within the new discovery area, with a best assay to date of 100.15m at 2.16% total rare earth oxides (TREO) from surface including 19m at 4.17% TREO from 58m.
Expanding the resource
Executive chairman John Prineas said the niobium discovery supported the potential to significantly expand the volume of Araxás multi-commodity resource, which remains open in all directions.
“The latest assays underscore the large scale and extensive continuity of this mineral system and reinforce the setting of our project in the world’s leading niobium location,” he said.
“To report 80m of high-grade niobium from surface is an outstanding result and the mineralisation is open in all directions, showing that we still have not found the limits of the system.”
Follow-up drilling
St George will conduct broad-spaced step-out and infill drilling to further outline the scope of the niobium mineralisation and enable a resource upgrade before end March.
“This new zone is shaping up to be a priority area for a potential mining operation at Araxá given the very high-grade mineralisation that commences from surface,” Mr Prineas said.
“The potential commercial advantage of this of this cannot be overstated [and] is a significant point of difference to other niobium projects worldwide where the mineralisation starts 50m or more from surface.”
Global niobium supply
Niobium is used as a super-alloy to make lighter, stronger steel, and is essential in a range of aerospace, military hardware, nuclear reactor and electronics applications.
More than 90% of the world’s supply is currently produced in Brazil and neither China nor the US has any domestic capacity, making Araxá a globally-significant and attractive project.
“In the US, niobium is a Top 10 critical metal and highly ranked in terms of its potential impact to the nation’s gross domestic product if the US is denied supply,” Mr Prineas said.
“China also has no domestic niobium supply and relies on imports from Brazil — this creates an enviable position for our project, which has very favourable logistics, is likely amenable to open pit mining, and has access to existing infrastructure in an established mining region.”
