Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom and Brazilian private holding company NBEPar have signed an agreement to establish a joint venture for the extraction and processing of critical minerals in Brazil, the companies said on March 25.

Uranium One Group, an international mining company operating under Rosatom's management perimeter, and NBEPar — the holding company of Diamante Group — will jointly operate the new entity, named Nadina Minerals, which will be headquartered in Rio de Janeiro.

The partners plan to seek the necessary permits, conduct geological exploration at targeted deposits, and develop mining and processing facilities for metals deemed critical to high-technology industries, Rosatom's international network said in a statement.

According to CNN Brasil, NBEPar chief executive Admiral Ney Zanella said the partnership was finalised after more than two years of negotiations. The company has already applied to Brazil's National Mining Agency (ANM) for exploration rights in the Figueira region of Paraná state and in Caculé, in the northeastern state of Bahia.

"It's not yet possible to know the capital expenditure, but we imagine the investment will be in the millions of dollars," Zanella said.

Nadina Minerals plans to operate across the full production chain, from geological prospecting to the development of advanced processing routes, combining NBEPar's local market knowledge with Uranium One's international experience, the companies said.

Uranium One is one of the world's largest uranium mining companies, with assets in Kazakhstan, Tanzania and Namibia.

The deal extends a deepening nuclear partnership between Moscow and Brasília. In May 2025, Brazilian Mines and Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira said after accompanying President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on a visit to Moscow that Rosatom would begin engaging with the Brazilian government on the development of small modular reactors (SMRs).

"Rosatom will begin engaging with the Brazilian government shortly so we can move toward the development of small nuclear reactors, which will be vital for our energy future," Silveira told Estadão at the time.

Energy featured prominently during Lula's Moscow talks with President Vladimir Putin last year, his first visit to Russia in 15 years. A bilateral working group was expected to finalise details of their nuclear cooperation framework by end-2025, though no update on its progress was immediately available.

Rosatom has been pursuing SMR deployment abroad, with projects under development in Uzbekistan and the Russian region of Yakutia. Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev has previously named Brazil as a potential market for floating nuclear power units given its extensive coastline.

The Russian corporation's ties with Brazil's nuclear sector predate the current venture. In late 2022, a Rosatom subsidiary signed a contract with state nuclear fuel company INB to supply enriched uranium to the Angra nuclear plant through 2027, and Rosatom has for several years been a major supplier of isotope products for Brazil's nuclear medicine sector.

Brazil currently operates two reactors — Angra 1 and Angra 2 — which together supply around 3% of national electricity. A third reactor, Angra 3, remains stalled after years of delays and corruption investigations.

NBEPar, described as Brazil's first private company in the nuclear sector, also controls Terminus, which is developing the country's first nuclear microreactor.