By Brazil Stock Guide – Brazil’s state development bank BNDES is seeking to deepen its partnership with Vale (VALE3) and bring Petrobras (PETR4) into a new investment push focused on critical minerals, in an effort to position the country closer to the center of the global race for resources essential to the energy transition, defense industries and advanced manufacturing.
BNDES President Aloizio Mercadante said Tuesday that the idea is to create a three-way alliance between BNDES, Vale and Petrobras to accelerate research, exchange geological information and map strategic reserves. The initiative would also include studies on seabed mining, an area still in its early stages but increasingly viewed as a future frontier in the battle for critical minerals.
“We will have to look at seabed mining — this is a future chapter,” Mercadante said, according to Estadão. He added that Petrobras already has research related to critical minerals on Brazil’s continental shelf through Cenpes, the company’s research and innovation center.
Vale brings extensive mineral geology expertise to the partnership, while Petrobras contributes offshore exploration capabilities at a time when the boundaries between energy, mining and industrial sovereignty are becoming increasingly blurred. For BNDES, the thesis is straightforward: Brazil has the reserves, data and companies needed to compete in this market, but it must turn geological knowledge into industrial policy.
Strategic mining
Mercadante also said the production footprint of critical minerals tends to be smaller than in traditional mining activities because it requires less waste removal. Even so, seabed mining remains a sensitive issue, carrying environmental, regulatory and technological challenges that could delay any commercial ambitions.
According to Mercadante, Brazil’s Marine Spatial Planning program is already mapping potential mineral-rich areas that still require more rigorous analysis. The initiative suggests BNDES wants to position itself as a financial and strategic coordinator in an agenda that combines energy transition, national security and industrial policy.