Growth prospects for Brazilian mining in the next few years look promising, to judge by the scale of companies' planned investments, both in areas such as iron ore and gold, where the country is a traditional producer, and in products meeting the demands of the energy transition, mainly rare earths, lithium, copper, nickel, and the platinum group minerals. Significant investments are also expected in fertilizers, an area in which Brazil remains dependent on imports; in infrastructure, especially transport and energy; and in sustainability, notably in the decommissioning of tailings dams and the recovery of products from tailings.
The most recent projections released by Ibram, the Brazilian Mining Institute, indicate a total investment volume of US$ 76.9 billion over the five-year period from 2026 to 2030, up US$ 8.5 billion from the estimated US$ 68.4 billion in the 2025-2029 period.
In terms of project areas, iron ore is once again in the lead with a figure of US$ 19.8 billion, followed by social and environmental projects at US$ 14.7 billion. This heading includes the decommissioning of tailings dams and changes to processing methods to dispense with the need for dams. In third place is logistics (railways and port facilities for shipping mining products) together with power generation, totaling US$ 11.2 billion, followed by copper with US$ 8.6 billion. Next come fertilizers (US$ 6.88 billion), nickel (US$ 4.7 billion), rare earths
(US$ 2.39 billion), gold (US$ 2.46 billion), lithium (US$ 1.17 billion), titanium (US$ 900 million) and zinc (US$ 382 million). Investments may possibly increase at an even higher rate in this period since Vale alone plans to invest around US$ 14 billion to boost its iron ore and copper output in the northern state of Pará. There may also be further investments in gold mining projects, in addition to those already announced, in view of the impressive rise in the world gold price, which now stands at over US$ 4,000 per ounce.
While the largest volume of investments is earmarked for iron ore projects, an area in which Brazil is a traditional player, among the many projects in other areas there are several that will contribute to a greater diversification of the range of Brazil's mining output, particularly in the so-called critical minerals, which in this case include copper, rare earths, lithium, and nickel. Copper and lithium, for example, are already listed among the country's ten leading mining products in value terms, with both commodities now expected to show a further increase in their share of total output. In rare earths, too, which Brazil started producing only very recently — the country's first rare earths mining venture began operating on a commercial scale in 2024 — the forecasts show significant growth in their share of total output.
IRON ORE
Despite fluctuations, iron ore prices have remained, on average, above US$ 100 per ton, which helps to foster a cautious optimism among Brazilian producers. As a result, they are mostly still going ahead with their growth projects, trusting in the resilience of the market, even with lower demand from China, by far the largest consumer of Brazilian iron ore. Their strategy has been to steer toward products having a higher iron content with correspondingly lower levels of contaminants, to ensure they will retain their competitive edge.
Vale continues to wager heavily on iron ore. Proof of this is that, in its growth plans, it shows a projected output level of 360 million tons a year in the course of the next five years. This volume would enable Vale to regain its place as the number one iron ore producer worldwide. To reach the projected 360 million tons, it will have to add about 25 million tons to its current annual capacity. At the same time, more than on volume, Vale is now focusing on a better product mix, which it considers crucial to maintain tain its flexibility and to face up to market fluctuations. This means that iron ore will still be accounting for a major share of the US$ 5.4 billion to US$ 5.6 billion budgeted for investments in 2026, including US$ 1.0 billion aiming at growth and US$ 5 billion for the continuance of existing operations.
Vale believes that, to remain competitive in the iron ore market, the surest path is through the optimization of existing assets, rather than the implementation of new projects, at least until 2030. Thus, the company has projects such as Vargem Grande 1, Capanema, Serra Sul Expansion, Compact Crusher, Serra Leste Expansion, and the N3 Mine, in addition to other upgrade initiatives. In the cases of Vargem Grande 1 and Capanema, each facility was designed to produce 15 million tons per year, and the ramp-up will be fully completed by the end of 2026. The +20 project at S11D is progressing according to schedule, with completion expected in December 2026. The Compact Crusher project is also proceeding according to schedule and should also be completed by the end of the year.
The Serra Leste Expansion and N3 projects together will add 10 million tons per year to Vale's Northern System (Carajás). In addition, the company has plans to modernize the Vargem Grande complex, including the Pico processing plants, located in the state of Minas Gerais.
Anglo American is advancing in its long-term plan for the Minas-Rio System in Minas Gerais, with a simultaneous focus on mining expansion, operational excellence, technological innovation, and strengthening relationships with the territories where the company operates. In the area of mine expansion, the company's efforts are concentrated on a feasibility study that will define the best strategy for incorporating the mineral resources of Serra da Serpentina into Serra do Sapo, where the current Minas-Rio operation is located. The Serra da Serpentina reserves were incorporated by Anglo American after a negotiation with Vale, in which the latter acquired a stake in Minas-Rio.
At the same time, the company is preparing advances in the production process, with emphasis on the implementation of recleaner flotation, a technology that will contribute to maintaining the high quality of the product. The start of operations is scheduled for 2028.
In tailings management, the company is proceeding with the implementation of a filtration plant that will prevent the release of approximately 85 percent of the total tailings into the Minas-Rio dam. The vacuum filtration technology will remove the water, which will then be reused in the production process, improving water efficiency and strengthening the company's environmental commitment. The project calls for an investment of around R$ 5 billion and is expected to start operating in early 2026.
CSN Mineração (CMIN) is proceeding with its investment program budgeted at approximately US$ 2.8 billion, to be disbursed up until 2027. The main focus is the construction of the new P15 processing
After achieving an output corresponding to nearly 60 percent of its operating capacity, reaching a level of 15 million tons in 2025, Samarco is readying a further stage, in which it intends to reach 100 percent of its installed capacity, 28 million tons. To this end, the company has approved a plan under which it will invest approximately US$ 2.5 billion, to be disbursed by the end of 2028, partly in Minas Gerais and partly in the neighboring state of Espírito Santo.
The investments will be made primarily in the concentrates plant in Minas Gerais, in the construction of a steriles stack, and in the two pelletization plants that the company operates at Ubu, on the Espírito Santo seaboard. With this development the company will once again become the second largest producer of iron ore pellets worldwide, behind only Vale.
In parallel with the capacity recovery plan, Samarco will be responsible for a portion of the costs under the Reparations Agreement signed in October 2024, which calls for total financial commitments of R$ 170 billion over 20 years. With immediate effect, Samarco has assumed the commitments formerly managed by the Renova Foundation, now dissolved.
Other companies
Bemisa has been consolidating itself as a strategic player in the iron ore market in Minas Gerais (see article in this issue), where it concentrates a robust set of assets formed by the Baratinha, Mongais, and Pedra Branca projects. The company has a long-term strategy to achieve an output of more than 10 million tons per year by 2030 in Minas Gerais, supported exclusively by the assets already present in its portfolio and the continued optimization of ongoing operations.
In the northeastern state of Piauí, Bemisa is wagering on the long-term potential of the Planalto Piauí Project, comprising mineral resources in excess of 1.6 billion tons of magnetite iron ore. Currently in the engineering phase, the project is undergoing studies for the implementation of Stage 1, calling for a planned output starting at 3 million tons per year and growing steadily until it reaches 15 million tons annually at full operational capacity.
Cedro Mineração has intensified investments in technology in its operations located in Nova Lima and Mariana, Minas Gerais, with the aim of significantly extending the lifespan of its mines — in many cases, by more than a decade — while reducing their environmental impact and enhancing competitiveness in an increasingly demanding global market. The investments are concentrated in advanced geological planning, process automation, real-time monitoring, and digital modeling of deposits.
The company plans to invest US$ 1.3 billion in expanding its output of the so-called "green ore" or pellet feed, a low-impurity raw material capable of reducing CO2 emissions in steelmaking by up to 50 percent. Its current annual output amounts to around 7 million tons, a figure the company plans to more than triple to 25 million tons by 2030.
Gerdau has been consolidating a strategy aimed at guaranteeing the long-term supply of ore for its steelmaking operation through structural investments in mining in Minas Gerais. The main investment is the new sustainable mining platform, which includes investments of US$ 600 million up until 2026, directed towards modernization, technological upgrades, environmental improvements, and expansion of local operations. The new platform will have an annual production capacity of 5.5 million tons of iron ore at the Miguel Burnier mine in Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais.
LHG Mining is budgeting approximately US$ 750 million to double its iron and manganese ore output at Corumbá, Mato Grosso do Sul. The project includes expanding iron ore mining areas, implementing a new ore processing plant, a conveyor belt for the processed ore, and an automated train loading system.
Ferro+ Mineração, part of the J. Mendes group, currently has the capacity to produce 7 million tons of iron ore per year. It is now licensing its Stage 3 Expansion Project, planned to produce an additional 4 million tons of raw ore and to add a further 6 million tons a year to the processing plant's capacity, including the implementation of waste stacks and the disposal of waste and tailings in a pit, as well as the reuse of 3 million tons a year of waste steriles and tailings recovered from the stacks. Following the expansion, output capacity at the Ferro+ plant, which performs wet processing, will have increased to 13 million tons a year. The amount of the planned investment budget for the project was not disclosed.
Itaminas has a long-term strategic plan, which includes investments of approximately US$ 280 million in modernizing operational units, expanding output capacity, and constructing its own logistics terminal. These projects seek to improve efficiency and competitiveness in the Brazilian and international markets.
Herculano Mineração plans to increase production in the next few years, adding 5.5 million tons a year to its capacity by 2028. The plan comprises three projects. The first is Serro, in the municipality of the same name, planned to have an output capacity of 1.5 million tons a year starting in 2026, for an investment of around US$ 55 million. The second is Vila Rica, in Ouro Preto, with a planned output of 2.5 million tons a year beginning in 2027, also for a US$ 55 million investment, and finally the João Monlevade project, which should add 1.5 million tons to the company's capacity, starting in 2028, for a budgeted US$ 28 million.
Brazil Iron has a project in Bahia, with production scheduled to begin in 2030 and an estimated investment of US$5.7 billion for the installation of a mine and plant for hot briquetted iron, known as HBI or alternatively as "green iron", which contributes to the decarbonization of the steel industry. In addition to the HBI plant, the project includes three processing plants, one to produce purified pellet feed and the other two for the final transformation stages until reaching green iron briquettes. The company plans to begin implementation in 2026. The goal is to reach 5 million tons of HBI per year.
Bahia Mineração (Bamin) is negotiating the entry of a new strategic partner for its integrated project comprising a mine, a railway, and a port terminal. The central axis of the strategy is the West-East Integration Railway (FIOL). With 62 percent of the work now completed, the section under Bamin's responsibility is designed to carry 60 million tons of ore per year, although the company's project calls for an initial volume of only 26 million tons. The total planned investment for the mine, the railway, and the port terminal together is stated as US$ 5.7 billion.
COPPER
Year by year, copper has been constantly gaining importance among Brazil's mining products, mainly due to projects in the Northern region, above all in the Carajás area. In the foreseeable future its share is clearly going to go on growing, in view of the many projects now being implemented and others still at the planning stage.
Five companies are currently producing copper in Brazil, led by Vale, acting through its Vale Base Metals unit. Next come Mineração Maracá (Lundin Mining), Mineração Caraíba (Ero Copper), Mineração Vale Verde, and AVB (CoreX Holding).
Vale Base Metals aims to reach an output level of 380,000 tons per year in the course of the next few years, while longer-term plans up till 2035 point to a continuing growth path, with a target of 700,000 tons, to be achieved partly through expansions at existing copper mines and partly by bringing onstream other projects that, for the time being, are still at the mineral prospecting or engineering development stage.
The plans include projects such as Salobo CPF, Alemão, Cristalino, Bacaba, 118, Barão, Visconde, Paulo Afonso, and Furnas. Salobo CPF involves the flotation of low grade copper ore, with the potential for an additional 30,000 tons of copper per year. The Alemão mine is expected to produce 80,000 tons of copper per year, the same capacity planned for the Cristalino project, while the 118 project could produce 60,000 tons a year and Paulo Afonso (still at the pre-feasibility stage) could eventually have an annual output anywhere in the range from 70,000 to as high as 100,000 tons. Among these projects, the most advanced is Bacaba, for which the company obtained a Preliminary License in mid-2025 and where the projected investment is US$ 290 million.
Mineração Maracá, part of the Lundin Mining group, is investing in a pre-feasibility study aimed at utilizing its Saúva deposit, near the Chapada mine. The ore from Saúva will be transported to feed the current Chapada plant. The project is due to be completed in 2026.
Ero Brasil Caraíba, an Ero Copper subsidiary, has advanced with prospecting work at its Furnas project, where the mining rights are held by Vale, Ero's partner in the venture. Ero is funding the research in exchange for a possible future stake in the mine, should it become feasible. Surveys conducted so far suggest that Furnas may possibly become a large-scale, high-grade underground mine.
Ero plans to move forward with a Preliminary Economic Study to be completed in 2026. The main investment being undertaken at the moment is the construction of a new external well at the Pilar mine, to extend its productive lifetime until 2042.
NICKEL
Although Brazil is by no means a major nickel producer, this is an area that is attracting investments, especially in projects aimed at supplying nickel for use in electric vehicle batteries.
Centaurus Metals has obtained a preliminary license for its Jaguar project in the Carajás mineral province, planned to produce 980,000 tons a year of concentrate, a venture requiring a US$ 270 million investment. The company is now engaged in securing the resources needed for the implementation of an open-pit mine and processing facilities.
Brazilian Nickel controls the Nickel Piauí project, which aims to exploit a deposit holding reserves of 99 million tons of nickel sulfide ore containing 0.84 percent nickel and 0.05 percent cobalt. The ore allows for processing by leaching, while its high silica content, which is non-reactive, minimizes acid consumption. Implementation will require a total investment of approximately US$ 1.4 billion, including financial costs.
Atlantic Nickel, controlled by the Appian Capital fund, plans to expand its Santa Rita mine in Bahia. The project aims to transition from the present open pit to underground mining, reaching a capacity of approximately 30,000 tons a year of nickel equivalent, with an estimated lifespan of over 30 years. The operation produces nickel, copper, and cobalt. Atlantic Nickel's project has been selected as the first disbursement from the new US$ 1 billion fund created by the partnership between Appian Capital Advisory and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
LITHIUM
Only three companies are currently producing lithium in Brazil: Sigma Lithium, CBL, and AMG. Output is expected to grow in the next few years, in view of the projects now planned.
Sigma Lithium has begun investing in Stage 2 of its project located in Minas Gerais, for which the company has already secured approximately US$ 87 million in financing. Stage 2 will add a further 250,000 tons a year of spodumene concentrate to the existing capacity. Sigma has already been duly issued with all three of the environmental licenses required for the expansion project (preliminary license, installation license, and operating license).
AMG Brasil is planning a new unit to process approximately 130,000 tons per year of lithium carbonate having a 5.5 percent Li2O content, yielding some 17,000 tons (nominal dry basis) of technical-grade lithium hydroxide using the sulfation route. The plant is to be located in Minas Gerais, from where its entire output will be shipped to an AMG refinery in Germany for conversion into lithium hydroxide. Budgeted at around US$ 290 million, the project could be completed by 2029.
Lithium Ionic plans to invest approximately US$ 190 billion in its Bandeira project, located in the so-called Lithium Valley in Minas Gerais. The estimated output is 177,000 tons a year of high-grade spodumene concentrate having a 5.2 percent Li2O content. The project should begin to operate by the end of 2027.
Pilbara Minerals, which acquired Latin Resources for US$ 370 million, creating PLS, intends to be another major player in hard rock lithium production in Brazil, similarly located in the Lithium Valley in Minas Gerais. Its main project is Colinas, in the Salinas region. A preliminary economic assessment (PEA), carried out by Latin Resources, indicated that Salinas has the potential to produce 500,000 tons a year of spodumene concentrate with a 5.2 percent content, for a US$ 308 million investment, split into US$ 253 million in the first stage and US$ 55 million in the second.
Atlas Lithium is concluding Stage 1 of its Neves project in the state of Minas Gerais, where it holds 54 lithium mining rights in the municipalities of Araçuaí, Itinga, Coronel Murta, Rubelita, Taiobeiras, and Virgem da Lapa. Budgeted at US$ 49.5 million, this stage indicates an output of 150,000 tons of spodumene concentrate for batteries. Stage 2, not yet defined in terms of dates and budgets, would increase the capacity to 300,000 tons.
Atlas also has two further projects in Minas Gerais, named Clear and Salinas. Both are currently at the exploration stage.
RARE EARTHS
Brazil joined the ranks of rare earth element producers in 2024, when Serra Verde Mineração began commercial production at its facility located at Pela Ema, in the state of Goiás, designed to produce an initial 5,000 tons per year. Over the next three to four years, Brazil is expected to enlarge its market share with several new facilities being brought on stream.
Serra Verde exploits a large deposit of ionic clay promising a long lifespan and having a high proportion of high-value heavy and light rare earths, mainly neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), terbium (Tb), and dysprosium (Dy), all four essential inputs for the energy transition. The company has drawn up studies to expand the capacity of Stage 1 in the region through plant optimization and is now evaluating the potential for a new expansion, Stage 2, which could double gross output by 2030. Serra Verde has been listed by the Minerals Security Partnership, which supports projects deemed critically important for the global energy transition. Furthermore, the Energy and Minerals Group and Vision Blue Resources led a US$ 150 million investment in Serra Verde. The Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) is an association formed by fourteen member countries plus the European Union, currently chaired by South Korea. Its purpose is to speed up the development of diversified and sustainable critical energy mineral supply chains. In February, 2026, Serra Verde announced a $565 million financing deal with the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), including an option that gives the United States government the right to acquire a minority equity stake in the company.
Aclara Resources, a company in the Hochschild group with a Toronto Stock Exchange listing, plans to invest approximately US$ 600 million in the implementation of its Carina project, located in the municipality of Nova Roma, in the state of Goiás. Currently engaged in the mineral exploration stage, the company expects to bring the venture into operation in 2028. From then on, Aclara's calculations show that it will be supplying some 13 percent of world demand for heavy rare earths, mainly neodymium and praseodymium, both of which are currently supplied primarily by China. Aclara also installed a pilot plant in Goiás in 2025 to test the processing of ionic clays taken from its Carina mine, with successful results.
Meteoric Resources, listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, has already obtained a Preliminary License for its Caldeira project in the municipality of Caldas, Minas Gerais. Recently, the company also installed a pilot plant to test the separation of rare earth elements contained in ionic clays from its deposit. The Caldeira deposit holds inferred resources of 409 million tons of ionic clay with grades of 2,626 ppm of rare earth element oxides (REEOs). The company says it may invest as much as US$ 250 million to start production at the Caldeira project by 2027. The idea is to begin with a capacity of 10,000 tons a year of rare earth oxides, which would amount to around 5 percent of the global demand for neodymium and praseodymium. The project is easily scalable, the company says, potentially producing as much as 20,000 tons a year of rare earth oxides, yielding some 7,000 tons of neodymium and praseodymium by 2030.
Viridis Mining and Minerals, also an Australian company, holds a preliminary license for its Colossus project in Poços de Caldas, Minas Gerais. The preliminary license covers the company's northern concessions within the municipality of Poços de Caldas and further reinforces the importance of Viridis's recent large-scale acquisition of concessions, adding a further 46 percent to its northern concessions and thus consolidating Colossus's dominant position in a high-potential area. The northern concessions hold mineral resources amounting to 215 million tons. The recently added 46 percent area is adjacent to the thriving eastern edge of the concession, where dysprosium and terbium oxide values are in excess of 500 ppm, the highest level ever recorded in the Poços de Caldas alkaline complex. The project is adjacent to Meteoric Resources' Caldeira deposit.
Viridis has received a non-binding Letter of Intent from the EDC, Canada's official export credit agency, signaling its interest in providing a direct financing package of up to US$ 100 million to support the execution phase of Project Colossus.
St. George Mining, which acquired areas formerly controlled by Itafós in Araxá, Minas Gerais state, is developing a project in the same carbonatite complex as the largest niobium mine, owned by CBMM, which produces about 80 percent of the world's niobium. The company reports that Araxá presents extensive mineralization of high-grade niobium and rare earths on the surface, confirmed by drilling. More than 500 intercepts of high-grade niobium (above 1 percent Nb2O5) and rare earths with grades of up to 8 percent Nb2O5 and 33 percent TREO have been reported. A sample taken at a depth of 2 meters below the surface yielded a Nb2O5 content of 2.4 percent, while in other samples from depths of 4 to 33 meters, the content was found to vary between 2.1 per cent and 2.4 percent. At a depth of 43 meters, however, the content fell to just 1.5 percent.
FERTILIZERS
Due to its high dependence on imports to supply domestic consumption, Brazil needs to expand its production of phosphate and potassium.
Fosnor/Galvani has an investment program totaling more than US$ 185 million in two projects in the state of Bahia to increase its output capacity to 1.3 million tons per year of phosphate fertilizers. The investments will be made at the company's fertilizer plant in Luís Eduardo Magalhães, where Galvani will double its output capacity, and in a new mining unit at Irecê, in partnership with CBPM, the state government company for mineral production. The Irecê project is to be implemented starting in 2026.
Galvani also has another greenfield project at Santa Quitéria, in the state of Ceará, in partnership with federally-owned Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil (INB). Comprising a mine and a fertilizer plant, the project is budgeted at US$ 460 million. Now in the licensing stage, the new unit is expected to produce 99.8 percent phosphate and 0.2 percent uranium, the latter earmarked for INB.
Brazil Potash Corp., acting through its subsidiary Potássio do Brasil, is implementing its Autazes project in Amazonas, for which it has obtained all the necessary authorizations and licenses for construction. Plans include the drilling of two underground mine shafts, a hot leaching processing plant, a river barge port, and a 13 km road connecting the processing plant to the port. Capacity will be up to 2.4 million tons per year. The investment is estimated at US$ 2.5 billion.
South Atlantic Potash (SAP) has a project in the Sergipe Basin (see article in this edition) aiming at an initial output of 2 million tons per year of potash from offshore reserves, using solution mining technology. The project has the potential to reach a scale of up to 14 million tons a year. The planned capex for the initial stage is US$ 2.5 billion.
GOLD
Gold mining accounts for a large part of Brazil's mineral output, in value terms, alongside iron ore and copper. The recent price surge, bringing investments in new projects, mainly by smaller companies, means that gold now has the potential to increase its share.
Aura Minerals, the only gold mining company listed on the B3 stock exchange, has adopted a growth trajectory through the implementation of medium-sized projects. In 2025, shortly after concluding its Almas project, Aura also completed the implementation of the Borborema project in Rio Grande do Norte, designed to produce 748,000 ounces of gold over a period of a little more than 11 years, for a US$ 108 million investment. At Almas, it now plans to extend the Paiol pit, which will become an underground mine, giving access to higher-grade gold reserves. The investment in this project will amount to some US$ 12.7 million in the course of 2026.
Another project in the company's plans is Matupá, in Mato Grosso. Aura has begun geological research and is acquiring additional areas that will define the feasibility of the venture. Aura is also investing in the Serra da Estrela project, in the Carajás mineral province in Pará, now at the exploration stage. This is an IOCG (iron oxide, copper, and gold) area said to have good potential.
In mid-2025 Aura agreed to acquire Mineração Serra Grande, at Crixás in Goiás, formerly controlled by AngloGold Ashanti. The agreed price was US$ 76 million plus 3 percent of the gold to be produced there.
Equinox Gold, whose operations in Brazil were acquired by CMOC, a Chinese company, is planning a capacity expansion at the processing plant, from 100,000 to 140,000 ounces per year. It will also introduce underground mining at Piaba, which until now has operated as an open-pit mine. The investment is budgeted at US$ 154 million. In Bahia, the company intends to expand open-pit mining at Fazenda, in addition to opening other fronts in the underground mine. New open-pit mining fronts will also be opened at Santa Luz.
Hochschild Mining, which operates a mine at Mara Rosa in Goiás, is planning to put its Monte do Carmo project in Tocantins into production. This project calls for a US$250 million investment in an operation capable of producing 95,000 ounces of gold per year for a period of 11 years and includes underground mining.
Serabi's short-term strategy is to increase its output capacity to 60,000 ounces per year by the end of 2026, and then within three to five years to become a medium-sized gold producer, operating on a scale ranging from 100,000 to 200,000 ounces per year. This is to be achieved by intensifying the exploration of an extensive portfolio of areas and, at the same time, engaging in a strategic program of mergers and acquisitions. The dual aim is to increase output and improve profit margins.
GMining, which reported an excellent performance in 2025 with its Tocantinzinho project, has strong growth plans, both in Brazil and in neighboring countries such as Guyana. In 2024, the company acquired the Centro Gold project in Gurupi, Maranhão, formerly owned by BHP. Under the contract, the former controller is to receive a 1 percent share of all the gold produced there until a cumulative 1 million ounces is reached. GMining's aim is to make this project feasible.
In Guyana, the company is beginning to implement its Oko West project. Partly open-pit and partly underground, the mine will have the capacity to produce 4.3 million ounces of gold over a 12.3-year period, for an investment of approximately US$ 972 million, including contingencies.
Auriverde Mining, a company created in 2025 and which began production last July, intends to become, as quickly as possible, a significant gold producer in Brazil. The company's strategy for growth in the country is to acquire projects that can be put into production quickly. The first project is Poconé, in Mato Grosso. The second is Figueira Branca, which will require investments of approximately US$ 30 million, aiming for an annual output of 25,000 ounces. The third project is Alta Floresta, still at the mineral exploration stage.
Cabral Gold has begun construction work on Stage 1 of its Cuiú Cuiú project located in the Tapajós mineral province, in the state of Pará. Capex is budgeted at US$ 45 million for an expected output of 113,100 ounces of gold over a 6.2-year productive lifetime, at a cash cost of US$ 950 per ounce in the first two years. The planned startup date is the second half of 2026.
OTHER MINERALS
Mineração Taboca, since 2025 under the ownership of China Nonferrous Trade Co. Ltd., has announced an investment cycle in the amount of US$ 100 million up until 2028, to expand its output capacity of tin, tantalum, and niobium while broadening its product range, possibly to include rare earths. Disbursements will begin in 2026, in the form of modernization projects at two units, Pitinga in Amazonas and Pirapora do Bom Jesus in São Paulo state. Taboca is aiming to double its present output capacity.
Out of the total investment budget, US$ 25 million is earmarked for research surveys with a view to increasing the volume of its mineral resources. The main focus of this effort will be on a mineral body named Água Boa.