St George Mining Limited (ASX: SGQ) (“St George” or the “Company”) has released its Quarterly Activities Report for the three months to 30 September 2026.
Key developments for the quarter focused on the Araxá Niobium-Rare Earths Project in Minas Gerais, Brazil, where the Company expanded its resource base, intersected thick high-grade intervals from surface, and submitted key environmental permitting documents.
This St George Mining quarterly report also covers pilot plant work, a planned processing centre and the Company’s funding position. Each is explained below.
The Quarter at a Glance
Five project milestones and one funding update defined the period:
- Resource growth: a Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 2Mt at 3.57% TREO, 0.70% MREO, 0.68% NdPr and 0.57% Nb₂O₅, with Measured and Indicated Resources up 155%
- Drilling: AXDD166 returned 1m at 4.86% TREO from surface, including 69.0m at 7.33% TREO and 20.0m at 12.65% TREO
- Permitting: Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Impact Report (RIMA) lodged with the State Environmental Foundation of Minas Gerais (FEAM)
- Pilot plant: test work at CIT-SENAI on approximately nine tonnes of near-surface saprolite, with results expected in Q4 2026
- Processing: a collaboration with the State of Minas Gerais and Lima & Pergher on a rare earths processing centre
- Funding: the A$60 million placement completed, with cash of A$86.195 million at 30 September 2026
Araxá Resource Grows to 111.2Mt
The MRE covers the Company’s 100%-owned Araxá Project and has an effective date of 11 August 2026.
The total resource is 111.2Mt at 3.57% TREO, 0.70% MREO, 0.68% NdPr and 0.57% Nb₂O₅. It contains:
- 98Mt of TREO
- 760,000t of NdPr oxides
- 630,000t of Nb₂O₅
Measured and Indicated Resources up 155%
Measured and Indicated Resources rose 155% to 75.2Mt at 3.64% TREO, 0.71% MREO, 0.69% NdPr and 0.58% Nb₂O₅. The previous figure was 29.49Mt.
That compares with a total resource of 70.91Mt reported in March 2026. The new categories are detailed in Table 1.
Measured and Indicated Resources now make up approximately 68% of the total MRE. They contain approximately 520,000t of NdPr oxides and 440,000t of Nb₂O₅.
| Resource classification | Million tonnes (Mt) | TREO (%) | NdPr (%) | Nb₂O₅ (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measured | 33.2 | 3.81 | 0.72 | 0.63 |
| Indicated | 42.0 | 3.50 | 0.67 | 0.54 |
| M&I | 75.2 | 3.64 | 0.69 | 0.58 |
| Inferred | 36.0 | 3.43 | 0.66 | 0.53 |
| Total | 111.2 | 3.57 | 0.68 | 0.57 |
The Inferred category is reported separately and should not be included for economic considerations. MREs are rounded, so rounding may cause computational discrepancies.
Table 1: Total JORC 2012 Mineral Resource Estimate for Araxá, 2% TREO cut-off. [St George Mining Limited]
Shallow, free-digging mineralisation
The entire MRE lies within about 120m of surface. The Company says it is potentially amenable to open-pit mining based on depth and geometry.
All of the resource in the top 120m sits within the weathered profile, which is free-digging. No ore reserve or detailed mine design has been reported.
The MRE remains open in all directions, including at depth.
The Company said the high share of Measured and Indicated Resources “substantially de-risks the project”. It supports reserve modelling in the feasibility study under way.
East Araxá sits outside the estimate
The update covers the main Araxá deposit only. East Araxá, about 1km to the east, is not included.
Drilling is under way there to support a maiden MRE for the area. It follows auger and aircore programs that identified high-grade rare earth mineralisation.
Figure 1: Comparison of rare earth deposits by mineral resource tonnage (log scale) and TREO grade, with Araxá (SGQ) highlighted. [St George Mining Limited Quarterly Activities Report]
On the Company’s chart, Araxá sits in the upper band of deposits by grade, near Mt Weld and Mountain Pass.
Drilling Delivers Thick Intervals From Surface
The Company described the quarter’s drill results as its strongest to date at Araxá. They were reported on 1 July and 29 July 2026.
Standout intercepts, all from surface unless stated, included:
- AXDD166: 135.1m at 4.86% TREO, including 69.0m at 7.33% TREO and 20.0m at 12.65% TREO
- AXDD142: 207.0m at 2.60% TREO, which the Company reported as a new record intercept
- AXDD165: 150.5m at 3.66% TREO, including 67.0m at 5.46% TREO
- AXDD167: 150.2m at 3.49% TREO and 0.72% Nb₂O₅, including 50.7m at 0.87% Nb₂O₅ from 32.9m and 19.0m at 1.32% Nb₂O₅ from 85.0m
- AXDD155: 100.6m at 4.39% TREO
- AXDD127: 121.55m at 3.47% TREO and 0.39% Nb₂O₅, including 40m at 5.87% TREO and 0.48% Nb₂O₅ and 15.5m at 8.07% TREO and 0.75% Nb₂O₅
The assays again showed broad niobium intervals from surface. The Company links this to Araxá’s position in the Barreiro Carbonatite, next to the CBMM niobium mine.
It describes CBMM as the world’s leading niobium producer.
Sections released with the report show holes intersecting high-grade mineralisation below the 120m limit of the current MRE.
Infill drilling in areas with previously limited coverage supports resource modelling. It also gives the Company potential to define higher-confidence Indicated resources and reserves.
Figure 2: Oblique section showing significant drilling in the current campaign. The latest holes carry red labels and were reported in the ASX release of 29 July 2026. [St George Mining Limited]
Permitting Starts With EIA and RIMA Lodgement
Permitting formally began in the quarter. The Company lodged its EIA and RIMA with FEAM.
Lodgement is the first step in a multi-stage licensing process run by the State of Minas Gerais. The process leads to three licences needed to build and run a mine and industrial complex:
- Preliminary Licence
- Installation Licence
- Operation Licence
The documents cover a proposed open-pit mine and a new industrial complex. The complex includes processing, refining and metallurgical plants, waste and tailings facilities and supporting infrastructure.
They follow 14 months of studies and fieldwork. The work covered environmental baselines, physical, biological and socio-economic factors, impact assessment and monitoring programs.
The Company said the EIA and RIMA show the potential development aligns with environmental best practices and sustainability goals.
Permitting is moving in parallel with the feasibility study led by Worley. The Company is also assessing whether existing regional processing plants could serve as an alternative.
Figure 3: Schematic of the areas assessed for the potential mining operation and industrial complex at Araxá. [St George Mining Limited]
Pilot Plant Work Moves Forward
A pilot plant study began at CIT-SENAI in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. It builds on flotation testwork that produced separate niobium and rare earth concentrates.
Key details of the study:
- Sample: approximately nine tonnes of near-surface saprolite from the Central Araxá area
- Duration: 4 to 6 weeks
- Processes: grinding, magnetic separation and flotation
- Products: a niobium concentrate and a rare earth concentrate, the latter recovered from flotation tailings
- Results: expected in Q4 2026
The Company considers the sample representative of material that could be mined in the early years of an operation.
Niobium concentrate will be processed further to produce ferroniobium. Rare earth concentrate will be assessed for test work toward a mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC).
A larger pilot plant is being built at Araxá
The results will help fine-tune a large-scale pilot plant under construction at Araxá. St George is building it with CEFET, the Federal Center for Technological Education of Minas Gerais.
It will form the base of the new St George Technological Centre at CEFET’s Araxá Campus. The plant details are:
- Throughput: up to 300kg per hour
- Products: niobium concentrate, rare earth concentrate, MREC and rare earth oxides
- Centre completion: expected December 2026
- Pilot plant operations: scheduled to begin January 2027
Figure 4: The St George team at the CIT-SENAI pilot plant in Belo Horizonte (left to right): Elbert Muller Nigri from CIT-SENAI; St George staff Tiago Francisco Orozimbo, Alaercio Vieira, Ricardo Nardi, John Prineas, Adriano Rios and John Dawson. [St George Mining Limited]
Processing Centre Plan Targets a Brazilian Mine-to-Magnet Chain
St George, the Lima & Pergher Group and the State of Minas Gerais agreed to collaborate on a potential rare earths processing centre.
It would serve rare earth projects under development in the State, including Araxá.
The State of Minas Gerais will support the initiative by:
- Assisting with licensing procedures
- Promoting relationships with suppliers and service providers
- Supporting applications for State tax incentives
The aim is a fully domestic mine-to-magnet supply chain, using Brazilian feedstock and in-country processing.
The centre would refine rare earths concentrate, MREC and oxalate. It would make magnet-making materials for end users.
Those users include MagBras, which is building Brazil’s first rare earth magnet-making facility.
St George will provide technical expertise for the design and supply feedstock from Araxá. It may also connect national and international partners that could provide processing technology.
Uberlândia as the proposed site
The proposed location is Uberlândia in Minas Gerais. Lima & Pergher’s chemical division, START, operates one of the largest chemical operations in Brazil there.
Its facilities cover more than 500,000 sq m and have created jobs for more than 4,900 people.
Figure 5: Signing ceremony for the Minas Gerais Rare Earths Processing Centre (left to right): Milena Andrade Pedrosa, Invest Minas President; Mila Batista Leite Corrêa da Costa, Secretary of State, SEDE; Thiago Amaral, Executive Director of St George Brazil; Sophie Davis, Australian Ambassador to Brazil; John Prineas. [St George Mining Limited]
Why Araxá’s Location Matters
Araxá sits in a country that leads one market and holds large reserves in another. Three data points from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) frame the opportunity:
- Niobium: Brazil accounted for approximately 93% of global production, followed by Canada with 5%, per the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026
- Rare earths supply: China mined an estimated 270,000t of the world’s 390,000t in 2025, per the USGS rare earths summary
- Brazil’s reserves: an estimated 11 million tonnes of rare earth reserves, second to China’s 44 million tonnes, against 2,000t mined in 2025 (USGS)
That gap between reserves and output is the space projects such as Araxá are targeting.
USGS also notes China tightened rare earth export controls in April 2025. Those controls remained in effect at the time of its February 2026 summary.
Other ASX-listed developers are working on the same supply question.
Funding and Cash Position
A$60 million placement completed
A General Meeting on 10 July 2026 approved Tranche 2 of the A$60 million placement launched in June 2026. The raise closed in two tranches:
- Tranche 1: 424.5 million new shares at A$0.10 each, raising A$42.4 million before costs
- Tranche 2: 175.5 million new shares at A$0.10 each, raising A$17.6 million before costs
Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd (Hancock) committed A$20 million to the placement. Following the raise, Hancock increased its holding to 10.3% of total shares on issue.
Options exercised
Optionholders exercised 22,849,037 listed SGQOC options at A$0.04 and 250,000 unlisted options at A$0.06. Option exercises raised A$929,000.
| Item | A$’000 |
|---|---|
| Cash at 1 July 2026 | 80,652 |
| Exploration and evaluation payments | (6,690) |
| Staff costs | (808) |
| Administration and corporate costs | (988) |
| Interest received | 642 |
| Other operating receipts | 67 |
| Net cash used in operating activities | (7,777) |
| Net cash used in investing activities | (4,362) |
| Proceeds from issues of equity securities | 17,555 |
| Proceeds from exercise of options | 929 |
| Transaction costs on equity issues | (802) |
| Net cash from financing activities | 17,682 |
| Cash at 30 September 2026 | 86,195 |
Table 2: Summary of the Appendix 5B cash flow for the quarter ended 30 September 2026. [St George Mining Limited]
The Appendix 5B reports estimated funding of 11.08 quarters at the current level of operating outgoings. The Company has no loan facilities in place.
Figure 6: Cash movement across the September 2026 quarter, in A$ million. [St George Mining Limited’s Appendix 5B]
Investors’ Outlook
The share price data below is taken from the ASX company page for SGQ. Market capitalisation is shown as published there.
| Share price data — ASX: SGQ | |
|---|---|
| Last Price | $0.053 |
| Market Cap | $258.57M |
Table 3: SGQ share price performance and market capitalisation. [ASX]
Several milestones sit on the Company’s near-term calendar:
- Pilot plant results from CIT-SENAI, expected in Q4 2026
- St George Technological Centre completion, expected December 2026, with pilot plant operations from January 2027
- East Araxá drilling, which supports a maiden MRE for the area
- Permitting, which moves through the Preliminary, Installation and Operation licence stages
- Feasibility study work led by Worley
- Minas Gerais Rare Earths Processing Centre progress with Lima & Pergher and the State
The Company holds A$86.195 million in cash and has no borrowings. It enters the December quarter with testwork, drilling and permitting running side by side.
Disclaimer: This report has been prepared by Colitco in collaboration with St George Mining Limited as part of a commercial content and investor communications arrangement. Colitco may receive compensation for the production and distribution of this content. This article is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial product advice, investment advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities. The content reflects information available at the time of publication and may not be updated. All figures, data and statements have been sourced from St George Mining Limited’s official ASX announcements and publicly available sources. Valuation comparisons in this article are illustrative arithmetic and are not a forecast or price target. Readers should conduct their own independent research and seek professional financial advice before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Exploration results are not a guarantee of future resource definition or commercial production.
Elizabeth Jones is a finance and mining content specialist with over 10 years of experience creating clear, SEO-driven content across fintech, investing, banking, insurance, cryptocurrency, and resource markets. She transforms complex financial data and industry trends into engaging, reader-focused articles that improve understanding and audience engagement.
