Russia partners in Brazil to explore critical minerals

NBEPar, Núcleo Brasil Energia Participações, a holding company of the Diamante Energia Group, and Uranium One Group JSC, controlled by the Russian state-owned company, reached an agreement to create a joint venture called Nadina Minerals, which will operate from Rio de Janeiro.

In a statement, Moscow’s nuclear agency explained that joint activities range from obtaining licenses with the Brazilian government, to carrying out geological prospecting work for potential deposits and creating companies for the extraction and processing of metals of critical importance for the development of high-technology sectors.

The agreement would have been signed during Latin America’s main forum for the nuclear sector, the Nuclear Summit 2026held this week in Rio de Janeiro.

The proposal aims to combine NBEPar’s knowledge in the Brazilian field with the international experience of Uranium Oneone of the largest uranium miners in the world, with operations in Kazakhstan, Tanzania and Namibia. In an interview with CNNthe CEO of NBEPar, Admiral Ney Zanella, said that the companies talked about the project for two years before signing the partnership.

“We already have areas requested from the National Mining Agency (ANM) in Paraná, in the Figueira region, and in Bahia, in Caculé, to carry out research. Then the decision to explore ore will come. It is not yet possible to know the capex (money invested), but we imagine that the investment will be in the millions of dollars”, he informed.

In the statement, Rosatom highlighted that Russia has a history of nuclear cooperation with Brazil, mainly in the supply of enriched nuclear fuel and the conversion of Brazilian uranium.