Brazil's St George Signs Letter of Intent for R$2 Billion Rare Earth Hub

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 26, St George Mining signed a letter of intent with Brazil's Lima & Pergher Group to evaluate the construction of a rare earth separation and processing center in Uberlândia, with the participation of the Minas Gerais state government. The project's total investment is preliminarily estimated at approximately R$2 billion, with plans to process around 50,000 tonnes of rare earth carbonate annually, targeting operations to begin around 2030. Implementation remains subject to the completion of technical-economic studies, a final investment decision, and permitting approvals.

The proposed center will process feedstocks such as rare earth concentrates, mixed rare earth carbonate, and rare earth oxalate, producing lanthanum oxide, cerium oxide, magnetic rare earth oxides, and other raw materials for permanent magnets through separation and refining stages. In addition to St George Mining's Araxá rare earth and niobium project, the center also plans to offer processing services to other rare earth projects under development in Minas Gerais and can supply materials to the MagBras rare earth permanent magnet manufacturing project.

The processing center is proposed to be located at the existing site of START Chemical and Industrial Division, a Lima & Pergher subsidiary, in Uberlândia. The site covers more than 500,000 square meters and offers industrial land, roads, power, waste treatment, and chemical supply conditions. START intends to provide the construction site, chemical processing technology, and power supply assurance, as well as participate in the center's design, construction management, and subsequent operations.

St George Mining will provide rare earth process flow design, technical personnel, and feedstock from the Araxá project, and will be responsible for negotiating processing technology licenses with international technology suppliers. The Minas Gerais state economic development department and Invest Minas will assist in advancing permits, connecting equipment and service suppliers, and supporting the project's application for state-level tax incentives. St George Mining and START will also evaluate the formation of a new company to jointly own and operate the processing facility.

The latest mineral resource estimate for the Araxá project stands at 111.2 million tonnes, with an average total rare earth oxide grade of 3.57% and a niobium pentoxide grade of 0.57%. Of this, measured and indicated resources total 75.2 million tonnes, with a total rare earth oxide grade of 3.64%, containing approximately 2.7 million tonnes of rare earth oxides and 520,000 tonnes of neodymium-praseodymium oxide. St George Mining expects the project to enter commercial production as early as 2029, with a target annual rare earth carbonate production capacity of approximately 30,000 tonnes, which can serve as one of the primary feedstock sources for the proposed processing center.

At this stage, each party to the agreement will bear its own evaluation costs. The capital contributions, equity stakes, and financing structure required for the center's construction and operation remain to be determined at the final investment decision. Before the project enters the construction phase, the parties must also sign binding definitive agreements.