Brazil is positioning itself as a green-energy hub for the AI boom, but a massive new data center project tied to TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is facing fierce backlash.
A R$50bn ($9.5bn) facility in Caucaia would be ByteDance’s first Latin American data centre and one of the continent’s largest, powered by new wind farms. Supporters say it could bring jobs, foreign investment, and help absorb Brazil’s surplus renewable electricity.
But local Indigenous Anacé people communities and environmental groups argue the project was rushed through licensing and threatens scarce water and electricity resources in a drought-prone region. Critics also question whether such projects create enough lasting economic benefits.
The controversy has become a test case for Brazil: can it attract huge AI infrastructure investments while protecting local communities and natural resources?
Brazil will require foreign partners to process rare earth minerals domestically as a condition for access to its reserves, a senior government official said this week, setting terms that could reshape how Chinese and Western firms compete for resources the country has long exported raw.
“Our doors of Brazil to foreign investment are open, but our position has matured,” Leonardo Durans, a senior official at Brazil’s industry ministry, said at a press conference with international media.
“The commitment we will demand from everyone is domestic technological development and job creation.”
Canada and Brazil have signed a technical cooperation agreement to advance research aimed at identifying areas with a higher probability of containing nickel deposits.
The Geological Survey of Brazil (SGB) and the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) formalized the partnership during the PDAC 2026 global mining convention in Toronto and the signed the accord.
Researchers from both countries will collaborate on studies examining the geological processes responsible for the formation, concentration and preservation of nickel deposits. The work will focus on developing an integrated exploration approach that combines geoscientific databases, including geology, geochemistry, geophysics and remote sensing data.
The partnership will also apply mineral potential modelling using artificial intelligence, with results processed and compared on a shared research platform. Initial findings from the joint work are expected in 2027.
The collaboration will allow both countries to expand exploration capabilities by sharing expertise and modern techniques.
“The partnership is strategic because it allows us to exchange experiences and advance in the use of more modern methodologies to identify areas with mineral potential,” GSC said in a statement. “Brazil and Canada have much to gain from this cooperation, but the impacts go further. We are talking about a contribution that will meet the global demand for strategic minerals for the energy transition.”
Brazil holds an estimated 16 million tonnes (Mt) of nickel reserves, ranking third globally behind Indonesia, which has about 62 Mt, and Australia with 25 Mt. Despite that resource base, Brazil ranks eighth in global nickel production and accounts for about 2.1% of total output, data from SGB shows.
International interest in Brazil’s nickel potential has grown in recent years, although volatile nickel prices have created challenges for project development and financing. Several projects have struggled to advance even as dealmaking in the sector continues.
NEW DELHI: India has reached out to key critical mineral producers to bring in processing technology into the country, officials said. The move comes close on the back of the government rolling out auctions of critical mineral mines.
“Talks are on with the United States (US), Australia, and United Kingdom (UK), South Korea, and Japan for processing technology. Brazil and Argentina are also positive about collaborating with India,” a senior mines ministry official told ET. According to another official aware of the plan, agreements with countries are being lined up and will soon be signed.
While India is going ahead with auction of mines holding critical minerals, there are no facilities for their beneficiation.
“We want to target India’s first critical mineral beneficiation and processing plant in the next 3-5 years,” the official quoted above said. “We want to ensure that development of critical mineral processing and extraction happen in parallel.”
Production of niobium in Brazil will reach 120,000 tpy by 2016, a 33% increase from 2011 levels, according to estimates released by the country’s mining institute, Ibram.
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