Harvest Minerals Signs Brazil Geological Survey REE Pact

Harvest Minerals Limited entered into a 24-month Technical-Scientific Cooperation Agreement with Serviço Geológico do Brasil, the country's geological survey, to evaluate rare earth elements across four strategic project areas.

The partnership, established through Harvest subsidiary Scanty Mineração Ltda on Monday, targets rare earth potential in the Ribeira Belt spanning the states of São Paulo and Paraná, according to an Investing.com report.

"We are extremely excited to be partnering with the Brazilian Geological Survey at a time when securing domestic supplies of critical minerals, particularly REEs, is becoming an increasingly important strategic priority for Brazil," said Brian McMaster, Chairman of Harvest, in a statement regarding the agreement.

Project Sites and Prior Drilling Metrics

The cooperation agreement encompasses four distinct exploration sites within the region: Capão Bonito, Carambeí, Cerro Azul, and Sguário Granite. Prior exploration at the Capão Bonito site, serving as the company's primary operational focus in the area, included 76 auger drill holes totaling 839 meters.

Assay results from those historical drill holes returned a peak grade of 5,662 parts per million total rare earth oxides. Additionally, the drilling campaigns identified mineralised intercepts measuring up to 17 meters in thickness.

Financial Terms and Research Scope

Under the terms of the 24-month accord, Harvest Minerals will incur zero financial cost for any investigative work specifically requested by the Brazilian geological survey. In exchange for supporting the initiative, the company will maintain full access to all generated geological data and analytical results.

Strategic Importance for Critical Minerals

The collaboration highlights government and corporate efforts to catalog domestic reserves of critical minerals amid rising global demand for elements essential to manufacturing permanent magnets, electric vehicles, and renewable energy infrastructure. By pairing private sector exploration data with state-backed scientific resources, the venture aims to accelerate the geological mapping of Brazil's southeastern mineral belts.