A track record of greenfield discoveries in copper, nickel and other critical minerals across Brazil
Tefra Mining is a dynamic mineral asset management company dedicated to generating, discovering, acquiring and developing strategic mineral projects in Brazil and across South America. A team with decades of experience at major and junior mining companies, and multiple greenfield discoveries to its name.
What we do
We generate, finance, explore, discover, engineer and operate mineral projects. From concept to operation, we do it all, and that is how we create value.
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Geology and project generation
Regional geology, data integration and a strong geophysical base produce our own targets, on ground we stake, own or secure through option and joint-venture agreements.
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Exploration and discovery
We raise funding for our projects in the capital markets, drill targets to confirm the geological model and define mineral resources to NI 43-101 or JORC standards.
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Engineering and operation
Technical and economic studies, environmental and social permitting, construction and operation: we carry projects efficiently through the most critical and delicate phases of the cycle.
- Based in
- Belo Horizonte, the hub of Brazil's mineral industry
- Focus
- Copper and other critical minerals
- Ownership
- Private company
From concept to operation
Value in this business is created by removing risk progressively over time: each milestone takes risk out of the project and puts value in, and each stage has a clear test of whether the project deserves the next dollar.
Value creation over the life of a mineral project. Tefra selects and generates projects and develops them to the economic assessment stage, the PEA (Preliminary Economic Assessment) or the BFS (Bankable Feasibility Study), which is the preferred exit point for the investment. Then comes the so-called orphan period: during environmental permitting and the raising of construction capital, market value tends to fall, because the capital markets assign little value to these stages. Value rises again with construction, reaches its highest level when the mine enters operation and, from there, grows steadily over the life of the mine.
Prospecting
Screening of opportunities, in-house or acquired; mapping, mineral rights, trenching, geology and geochemistry.
Development
Financing, drilling, mineral resource estimate, metallurgical test work and the PEA.
Final feasibility
Feasibility study, environmental and social impact assessment, permitting and capex funding.
Construction
Detailed engineering and construction.
Operation
Commissioning, ramp-up and steady-state operation.
Tefra's preferred exit is at the PEA or feasibility stage; when building creates more value, we build and operate.
Target minerals
Copper is our focus, driven by strong demand and the team's expertise in the commodity. Alongside it, the other critical minerals in which the group has know-how and Brazil holds geological potential. Select a mineral for uses, reference price and sources.
Copper (Cu)
The metal of electrification: power grids, motors, wiring, electric vehicles, data centers and renewables. Added to the U.S. critical minerals list in 2025. The IEA expects copper to post the largest volume growth of any energy mineral, adding about 7 million tonnes of demand by 2040, while falling ore grades and a slowdown in new discoveries make new supply hard to bring on. That is why greenfield copper discovery is Tefra's priority: the team took part in the Pedra Branca and Andrade discoveries and worked on Igarapé Bahia, Salobo and Cristalino.
Reference price: about US$14,300/t, LME cash, mid-September 2026.
Sources: LME; IEA Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2026; USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026.
Gold (Au)
Monetary and strategic metal: central-bank reserves, investment, jewelry and electronics. Not on the critical-minerals lists, but the store of value that finances exploration cycles, and Brazil is one of the world's established gold provinces. Prices set successive records in 2025 and 2026 as central banks kept buying and geopolitical risk rose. Tefra's team worked on the Igarapé Bahia gold mine and on the Serra Pelada Au-Pd-Pt deposit at Vale, and supported the Amapari discovery.
Reference price: about US$4,360 per troy ounce, spot market, September 21, 2026.
Sources: LBMA spot market; World Bank Commodity Price Data, August 2026; USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026.
Nickel (Ni)
Stainless steel and the cathodes of high-energy electric-vehicle batteries. On the U.S. and EU critical lists. The IEA projects nickel demand to grow 50 to 90% by 2040, with Indonesia supplying almost all recent growth, a concentration that makes new sulfide and laterite sources elsewhere strategic. Brazil holds the third-largest nickel reserves in the world. Tefra's team took part in the Serra do Tapa, Las Aguilas and Mangabal discoveries and implemented the Onça Puma and Piauí Níquel operations.
Reference price: about US$16,400/t, LME, mid-September 2026.
Sources: LME; IEA Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2026; USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026.
Rare earths (REE)
Neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium feed the permanent magnets in electric-vehicle motors, wind turbines and defense systems. Critical in the U.S., EU and Japan. Demand for magnet rare earths grows 50 to 90% by 2040 (IEA), while China refines about 90% of world supply and has applied export controls since 2023; prices for heavy rare earths outside China run several times the Chinese level. Brazil holds the second-largest reserves, and its ionic-clay deposits are among the few new sources being developed; Tefra's team made the Caladão discovery in Minas Gerais.
Reference price: NdPr oxide about US$100 to 110/kg, Chinese domestic market (SMM and CREIA), September 2026; U.S. Department of Defense price floor US$110/kg.
Sources: Shanghai Metals Market; China Rare Earth Industry Association; IEA Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2026; USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026.
Gallium (Ga)
The semiconductor metal: gallium nitride and gallium arsenide chips for 5G, radar, power electronics, LEDs and solar cells. Recovered as a byproduct of bauxite and zinc processing; China produces over 90% and restricted exports in 2023. The United States is 100% import-reliant (USGS), and European prices run about five times Chinese domestic prices (IEA 2026). Brazil's ionic-clay deposits, such as Caladão, discovered by Tefra's team, carry gallium alongside rare earths.
Reference price: about US$2,250 to 2,900/kg for 99.99% gallium in Rotterdam (Fastmarkets, June 2026); Chinese domestic about US$235/kg (SMM, September 2026).
Sources: Fastmarkets; Shanghai Metals Market; IEA Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2026; USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026.
Tungsten (W)
The hardest of the industrial metals: cutting tools, drilling and mining equipment, armor and munitions, and specialty gases for semiconductors. China supplies more than three quarters of the world's tungsten and tightened exports in 2025; prices rose about sixfold (IEA 2026). On every major critical-minerals list and a NATO defense-critical raw material. Brazil's tungsten province is the Seridó district of Rio Grande do Norte, where Spark Energy Minerals, led by a Tefra founder, began tungsten exploration in September 2026 over twelve permits and 21,500 hectares beside the district's historic scheelite mines; the same founder worked on Breves, a copper-gold-tungsten deposit in Carajás, during his years at Vale.
Reference price: ammonium paratungstate about US$2,600 to 3,250 per mtu WO₃, fob China (Fastmarkets, June 2026), roughly six times the level of mid-2025.
Sources: Fastmarkets; IEA Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2026; USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026.
Platinum group elements (PGE)
Platinum and palladium: autocatalysts, hydrogen electrolyzers and fuel cells, glass, chemicals and jewelry. Supply is concentrated in South Africa and Russia, and platinum is in its third consecutive year of deficit (Metals Focus). On the U.S. critical minerals list. Tefra's team took part in the discovery of Luanga, in Carajás, one of the largest PGE deposits outside the traditional producing districts (236 Mt @ 2 g/t Pt+Pd), and worked on the Serra Pelada Au-Pd-Pt deposit.
Reference price: platinum about US$1,800 and palladium about US$1,320 per troy ounce, spot market, September 2026.
Sources: LBMA and LPPM spot markets; Metals Focus; USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026.
Graphite (C)
The anode of every lithium-ion battery, with more graphite by weight than any other battery mineral, plus refractories and steelmaking. China controls over 90% of anode production and restricted exports in 2023; sources outside China are projected to cover only about 10% of 2030 demand (IEA 2026), while demand grows 50 to 90% by 2040. Brazil holds the second-largest graphite reserves, and a Tefra founder started the company behind the Santa Maria do Salto discovery.
Reference price: flake 94% C, −100 mesh, about US$650 to 720/t ex-works China (Fastmarkets, April 2026); spherical anode-grade about US$1,600/t (SMM, August 2026).
Sources: Fastmarkets; Shanghai Metals Market; IEA Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2026; USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026.
Phosphate (P)
Phosphorus for fertilizers, animal feed and lithium-iron-phosphate battery cathodes. Added to the U.S. critical minerals list in 2025; food security depends on it. Morocco holds about 70% of world reserves, and Brazil imports most of the phosphate it uses despite being one of the largest agricultural producers. Tefra's team discovered and permitted Três Estradas, now in operation, and discovered Lucena.
Reference price: phosphate rock about US$170/t, f.o.b. North Africa, July 2026 average (World Bank); DAP fertilizer about US$780/t.
Sources: World Bank Commodity Price Data, August 2026; USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026.
Potash (K)
Potassium for fertilizer: no crop grows without it. Brazil is the world's largest potash importer, buying over 95% of what it consumes from Canada, Russia and Belarus, a strategic vulnerability the Autazes deposit, discovered by Tefra's team, was found to address. Added to the U.S. critical minerals list in 2025; the World Bank expects prices to rise in 2026 before new Canadian capacity eases them.
Reference price: muriate of potash, granular, about US$396/t CFR Brazil, July 2026 average (World Bank).
Sources: World Bank Commodity Price Data and Commodity Markets Outlook, 2026; USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026.
Discoveries and projects we took part in
| Deposit | Commodity | Size and grade | Our role | Company |
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| Pedra BrancaPará, Brazil | Copper, gold | 18 Mt @ 1.6% Cu, 0.4 g/t Au | Discovery | Noranda-Falconbridge; later Avanco, OZ Minerals and BHP; now CoreX Holding |
| BrevesPará, Brazil | Copper, gold, tungsten | 50 Mt @ 1.2% Cu, 0.75 g/t Au, 0.12% W | Geology and geochronology | Vale |
| Igarapé BahiaPará, Brazil | Copper, gold | 219 Mt @ 1.4% Cu, 0.86 g/t Au | Geological modeling, geochronology and brownfield exploration | Vale |
| SaloboPará, Brazil | Copper, gold | 994 Mt @ 0.94% Cu, 0.52 g/t Au | Feasibility studies | Vale |
| CristalinoPará, Brazil | Copper, gold | 500 Mt @ 1.0% Cu, 0.3 g/t Au | Feasibility studies | Vale |
| AndradeRio Grande do Sul, Brazil | Copper | 26 Mt @ 0.5% Cu | Discovery | Aguia Resources, now RAD Mineração e Metalurgia |
| Serra do TapaPará, Brazil | Nickel laterite | 70 Mt @ 1.2% Ni | Discovery | Noranda-Falconbridge, later Horizonte Minerals |
| Onça PumaPará, Brazil | Nickel laterite | In operation | Implementation and construction | Vale |
| Piauí NíquelPiauí, Brazil | Nickel laterite | In operation, heap leach | Implementation, construction and operation | Piauí Níquel |
| Las AguilasSan Luis, Argentina | Nickel sulfide, copper, PGE | 3.5 Mt @ 0.4% Ni, 0.4% Cu, 0.6 g/t Pt+Pd | Discovery | Castillian Resources |
| MangabalGoiás, Brazil | Nickel sulfide, copper | 1.3 Mt @ 0.5% Ni, 0.2% Cu | Discovery | Castillian Resources |
| CaladãoMinas Gerais, Brazil | Ga-REE ionic clay | Resource estimate in progress | Discovery | Spark Energy Minerals |
| Santa Maria do SaltoMinas Gerais, Brazil | Graphite | 27 Mt @ 2.7% Cg | Discovery | Graph+ |
| LuangaPará, Brazil | PGE | 236 Mt @ 2 g/t Pt+Pd | Discovery | Vale, later Bravo Mining |
| Serra PeladaPará, Brazil | Gold, palladium, platinum | — | Mapping, drilling and deposit model | Vale, now Helius Minerals |
| AripuanãMato Grosso, Brazil | Zinc, lead, copper | — | Discovery | Anglo American |
| AmapariAmapá, Brazil | Gold | — | Discovery | AngloGold |
| Três EstradasRio Grande do Sul, Brazil | Phosphate | 105 Mt @ 5% P₂O₅, now in operation | Discovery and permitting | Aguia Resources |
| LucenaParaíba, Brazil | Phosphate | 55 Mt @ 6.4% P₂O₅ | Discovery | Aguia Resources |
| AutazesAmazonas, Brazil | Potash | 726 Mt @ 31% KCl, installation license issued | Discovery and permitting | Brazil Potash |
| PapanduvaSanta Catarina, Brazil | Oil shale | 1 billion barrels | Discovery | Iraty Energy |
Figures as reported by the respective companies at the time. They describe the team's experience, not Tefra assets.
Leadership
Leadership with decades of shared history, begun at the major mining companies and continued in the junior market.
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Roberto Souza
BSc Geology (Hons), MSc Structural Geology, PhD GeophysicsStructural geologist and geophysicist with more than 30 years in exploration for minerals and oil and gas, who leads Tefra's regional geology, data integration and target generation. Senior geophysics roles at Anglo American, where he coordinated more than 150,000 line-kilometers of airborne surveys in the Amazon, at AngloGold as Chief Geophysicist for South America and at BHP Billiton as Coordinator of Geosciences; at Brazil's National Petroleum Agency he designed the airborne gravity and magnetics program that covered more than half of the country, later working at Petrobras. Selected the ground and sited the drillholes for the Autazes potash discovery. Partner at Creative Energy, a natural-gas producer in the Recôncavo Basin, and at RGS Minerals Consulting. MSc in structural geology (Ouro Preto School of Mines) and PhD in geophysics (UFRJ).
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Fernando Tallarico
BSc Geology (Hons), MSc and PhD Economic Geology, MBA, P.Geo., FSEGMining executive and exploration manager with more than 35 years of international experience in mineral exploration, project development and corporate leadership, in Latin America, Africa and beyond. Has run exploration programs across IOCG, gold, nickel sulfide and laterite, rare earth, gallium, phosphate, potash and platinum group systems, with eleven discoveries. Former Managing Director of publicly listed junior companies, earlier with Forbes & Manhattan, Vale, Noranda-Falconbridge and BHP Billiton; has raised venture capital, led IPOs and served as CEO and board member. In Brazil, has built businesses from concept through discovery, economic assessment, permitting and construction license. PhD on the metallogeny of the Carajás IOCG belt and MBA from Fundação Dom Cabral; Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists and Qualified Person under both NI 43-101 and JORC. Also Chairman and CEO of Spark Energy Minerals.
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Guilherme Jácome
BSc Civil Engineering, MBA (IMD, Switzerland)Civil engineer with 25 years taking mining projects from study to production: engineering, project development and implementation, mine operations and corporate management. More than a decade at Vale, on the Salobo and Cristalino copper projects and the construction of the Onça Puma nickel mine, then PMO General Manager with assurance over a US$50 billion project portfolio. President of Brazil Potash, where he took the Autazes project to its installation license, including Brazil's first indigenous consultation under ILO 169, and of Piauí Níquel, the world's first heap-leach nickel operation, from construction to production. Founder of Graph+ and of Ore Investment, Brazil's first private-equity fund dedicated to mining; currently Business Development Director at Brazilian Nickel. MBAs from IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland, and from Fundação Dom Cabral.
Copper in Brazil
We share detailed information about our projects with qualified investors and prospective partners upon signing a confidentiality agreement.
We also review new opportunities. If you hold prospective ground or exploration data in Brazil or elsewhere in South America, we are open to options, joint ventures and acquisitions.