Canada and Brazil have launched a joint, AI-enabled exploration research effort designed to identify areas with a higher probability of containing nickel deposits, formalized through a technical cooperation agreement signed at PDAC 2026 in Toronto.
The partnership was signed by Geological Survey of Brazil chief executive Vilmar Simões and Geological Survey of Canada director Geneviève Marquis, creating a framework for researchers from both countries to collaborate on the geological processes behind the formation, concentration, and preservation of nickel deposits.
The work will develop an integrated exploration approach that combines geoscientific databases spanning geology, geochemistry, geophysics, and remote sensing, with outputs processed and compared on a shared research platform.
A central deliverable is mineral potential modelling using artificial intelligence, intended to synthesize those datasets into comparable prospectivity results across jurisdictions, with initial findings expected in 2027.
Brazil holds an estimated 16 million tonnes of nickel reserves, ranking third globally behind Indonesia and Australia. Despite that resource base, Brazil ranks eighth in global nickel production and accounts for about 2.1% of total output.
Nickel price volatility has complicated project development and financing in Brazil, contributing to uneven advancement across assets even as sector dealmaking continues.
In 2025, MMG Singapore Resources, a unit of Chinese state-owned miner MMG, agreed to acquire Anglo American’s nickel assets in Brazil for $500 million, but the transaction entered regulatory scrutiny in Brazil and the EU. The prolonged review process pushed the parties to extend the deal’s long-stop date to June 30, 2026.
Legal risk surfaced again this week in a separate dispute involving Equinox Gold, after a Brazilian court halted the transfer of mineral rights linked to a gold asset sale from Equinox to Chinese metals producer CMOC.
Equinox agreed in January 2026 to sell Brazilian gold assets to CMOC in a $1.0 billion deal, but Bahia-focused state-run Companhia Baiana de Pesquisa Mineral, which leases mineral resources included in the transaction, argued the sale violated its leasing agreement.
A judge sided with CBPM, blocked the transfer of the Bahia mineral rights, and scheduled a conciliation meeting for March 30, 2026.
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