Chief Alvaro Tukano in Rio de Janeiro on the beach of Ipanema when memory of his ancestors
Photo: Norbert Suchanek
Balaio on the upper Rio Negro in the northwest of the state of Amazon is one of the best preserved indigenous reserves of Brazil. It comprises over 257,000 hectares of rainforest, rivers and mountains. It is located in the municipality of São Gabriel da Cachoeira and is the traditional territory of the Tukano and eight other indigenous peoples: the Baniwa, Baré, Desana, Koripako, Kubeo, Pira-Taffuya, Tarianana and Tuyuka. It is also the birthplace of 71-year-old Alvaro Doéthiro Sampaio Tukano.
Since the death of his father Ahkïto in 2020 at the age of 110, Alvaro has been chief of the Tukanos in Balaio. This is considered a veteran in the indigenous movement of Latin America and, together with other indigenous leading figures and activists such as Mario Juruna, Marcos Terena, Aílton Krenak, Paulinho Paiakan and Davi Copenawa Yanomami in the 80s and 90s.
As a chief of the Tukano, Alvaro is committed to preserving their traditions and the supply of traditional medicine and food. It is important to maintain the rainforest and at the same time to achieve nutrition and health sovereignty for the peoples of its territory by using the indigenous knowledge.
But a sword of Damocles hovers over Balaio. It’s called Niob (NB). One of the world’s largest occurrence of the strategic mineral is in the Tukano area. According to geological explorations, the Niobic occurrences in the São Gabriel region could be enough to cover the global need for Niob on today’s level for 400 years.
Niob is a strategically important heavy metal, which is used in the construction industry, the aerospace, in the high-tech, armor and nuclear industry. Today the metal also plays a crucial role in the globally desired energy transition. So Niobus enables the production of rapidly rechargeable batteries.
Critical for the energy transition
In a report on Brazil recently published at the Munich Security Conference in 2025, several critical raw materials are cited: »The second topic is the energy transition and the global struggle against climate change. Brazil’s critical mineral raw material deposits make the country indispensable for the development of environmentally friendly technologies. It has 94 percent of global NIOB, 22 percent of the graphite, 16 percent of the nickel and 17 percent of rare earths – all important components for green technologies. «
Brazil with over 90 percent world part is already the most important niobic producer, according to the German raw material agency. The main supplier is the Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração (CBMM) bodies in Araxá in the southwest of Minas Gerais, which was recently taken over by the Australian mining company St George.
“We indigenous peoples have to stand together and learn from each other.”
Alvaro ToucanTukanos chief
The development of the Niobic occurrence in the Tukano territory in the state of Amazon would drastically increase the worldwide offer of the coveted metal and possibly press the prices. So far, however, all mining in the demarcated indigenous areas has been banned by the Brazilian constitution. Nonetheless, there is a strong political lobby in Brasília that wants to change this as soon as possible. In addition, the international interest in Brazil’s strategic minerals is growing.
In November last year, Brazil and China signed an agreement on “sustainable” mining – whatever the word “sustainable” in this context. The extraction and development of NIOB, lithium and nickel is one of the priorities of the agreement.
In February, Federal Minister and Judge Gilmar Mendes presented a draft law from the Supreme Federal Court, which undermined the Brazilian constitution and would allow dismantling even in demarcated indigenous areas. If the draft law in Brasília finds a majority, the indigenous peoples of the region of the upper Rio Negro may have to decide whether they agree to Niobic reduction against compensation or consistently defend their areas against mining interests.
Leave the niob in the ground
Environmental scientists from the University of São Paulo already pleaded in 2020 to leave the niob in the Amazon floor. The development of the occurrence of rare earths and Niob in the region of the upper Rio Negro could lead to high cumulative forest loss. They warn of devastating consequences for the biodiversity and the indigenous peoples of the area.
Your study published in »Environmental Science and Policy« entitled »Keep the Amazon niobium in the ground« forecast that the exploitation of the NIOB deposits could lead to deforestation of up to 87,000 square kilometers of rainforest. The researchers not only took into account the direct environmental impact of mining, but also the indirect consequences through the necessary road construction, settlements and immigration of workers.
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Niobic reduction and processing are also associated with the production of large amounts of radioactive waste. Nioberz is considered a natural radioactive material and occurs in the earth’s crust together with radioactive elements such as uranium, radium, thorium, potassium-40 and lead-210. According to the current statistics of the Brazilian atomic energy commission, each produced ton Niob is about 100 to 400 tons of radioactive and toxic waste.
The Navajo in the southwest of the United States knows what it means to live in a radioactively contaminated area with over 500 decommissioned, abandoned uranium mines and unsecured radioactive overhaul. You have therefore invited the chief of Tukano to visit. “This is a great honor for me. We indigenous peoples have to stand together and learn from each other, «says Alvaro Tukano.
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