Angus & Ross plc started exploration in Brazil late in 2002, with the primary objective of smaller but low cost tantalum production. Later, gold was added as a target mineral.
Currently A&R has 4 projects in Brazil, including one with near production potential. In 2004 Cabot Corporation purchased from A&R an option to buy part of the Company’s tantalum concentrate production from 2006 through to 2010.
St Andrews Mining Ltd is A&R's wholly owned subsidiary dedicated to the development of the Brazilian operations. It is envisaged that it will eventually be self-financing.
Rio Grande do Norte
The
two properties in Rio Grande do Norte state are located about 100km
west of the port of Natal. They include Bonfim
South and Caiçara. The last one
has a small “proven reserve” of 167,402 tonnes of tantalum
ore (Ta2O5) and a prospect of a near term
production of of about 35,000 lbs tantalum pentoxide per year.
St Andrews Mining Ltd has commissioned a Brazilian mining consultants, Multigeo, to conduct a pre-feasibility study on the project. The Bonfim South block is adjacent to the former Bonfim gold mine and its target minerals are gold and associated tungsten, molybdenum, bismuth, and tantalum.
Mato Grosso
In
Mato Grosso state the Company has two properties.
Santa
Cecília is made up of numerous ‘garimpeiro ’ license
blocks totalling 13 km2 (and a further 4.5 km2 applied
for). The property is prospective for alluvial gold and tantalum
and possibly also contains the hard rock source of these minerals.
As a result of the 2005 drilling program the Company believes that
there is a target resource of about 500,000 tonnes of gold ore.
Based upon the grade of samples to date (5 g/t Au), this equates
to some 67,000 ounces of gold.
Santa Débora is a recent addition to the
Company’s portfolio of
projects. The approximately 16 km2 license block is located
in a key position within the historic Salinas-Praia Grande gold trend
some 70 km southwest of Cuiabá, 
the capital cityof Mato Grosso
State.
A ‘greenfield’ site, it is located immediately north-east
of several operating large-scale garimpeiro mines (including one
currently mining right up to the license boundary) which themselves
abut the Salinas mine property, itself recently the subject of a
takeover by an international consortium.
The Company has now signed an agreement with the license
holder, requiring the Company to pay a total of US$200,000 over a
two year period, the majority of which will be dependent on continuing
exploration success. In addition, the Company is applying for other
available land in the vicinity, that also straddles the Salinas-Praia
Grande trend.
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