St George Mining has received tax concessions from the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil for the company’s Araxá niobium and rare earths project.
The state government signed a preferential goods tax regime for St George, which will significantly reduce the development costs for the Araxá project.
The deal removes the state goods tax, up to 18 per cent, on any equipment and other material acquired for the development of the project, including equipment for the pilot plant and full-scale industrial plant.
St George Executive Chairman John Prineas said: “We are delighted that the government of Minas Gerais has recognised the value of our development strategy at Araxá with tax exemptions and other support. The tax concessions will feed directly into our economic study for a potential mining operation at Araxá.
“The combination of local and state government support, a world-class resource, the location in an established mining region and a first-class in-country team of engineers to drive project development provide St George with an outstanding opportunity to deliver on our vision of a globally significant rare earths and niobium mine at Araxá.”
The tax regime follows a memorandum of understanding between St George and the state government, where the Minas Gerais government agreed to fast-track approvals for Araxá’s development.
The company also plans to build a new large-scale pilot plant in partnership with the Federal Center for Technological Education, a government-funded public technological in the state.
The pilot plant will be the foundation for the St George Technological Centre, which will have the capacity for both mineral processing and hydrometallurgical refinement.
The Araxá project is a world-class project that hosts a total rare earth resource of 40.6 million tonnes grading 4.13 per cent total rare earth oxides, making it the largest carbonatite-hosted rare earths deposit in South America. It also has 41.20 million tonnes in total niobium at 0.68 per cent grading.
