Balaio at the upper Rio Negro in the Northwest of the State of Amazonas is one of the most preserved indigenous reservation in Brazil. More then 257,00 hectares of rainforest, rivers and mountains. Located in the municipality of São Gabriel da Cachoeira it is the traditional territory of the Tukano and eight other indigenous peoples, the Baniwa, Baré, Desana, Koripako, Kubeo, Pira-tapuya, Tariana and Tuyuka. And it is the birthplace of 71-year-old Alvaro Doéthiro Sampaio Tukano.
Since his father Ahkïto died in 2020, at the age of 110, Alvaro Doéthiro Sampaio Tukano has been the chief of the Tukanos in Balaio. Alvaro is one of the most respected indigenous leaders and shamans in Brazil. He was one of the founders of the Union of Indigenous Nations (UNI) and together with other known leaders and activists like Mario Juruna, Marcos Terena, Aílton Krenak, Paulinho Paiakan and Davi Kopenawa Yanomami at the forefront of the indigenous movement in the 1980s and 1990s fighting for the demarcation and preservation of their traditional territories.
As chief of the Tukano, Alvaro is committed to preserving their traditions and expanding the supply of traditional medicine and food. The challenge is to preserve the forest and achieve food and health sovereignty by harnessing the indigenous knowledge his people have acquired over millennia.
However a sword of Damocles hangs over Balaio. It’s called Niobium (Nb).
One of the world’s largest deposits of the strategic mineral Niobium is located in the Tukano territory. The Niobium reserves in the São Gabriel da Cachoeira region could be enough to meet the world’s demand for Niobium for 400 years, prospectors say.
Niobium is a heavy metal used essentially in alloys in several industrial applications, such as aeronautics, aerospace, fabrication of pipelines and oil rigs and in nuclear fuel rods of nuclear power plants. It is particularly important for the arms industry. In addition Niobium plays today a vital role in the global energy transition from non-renewable to so called “green” energy solutions. Used in advanced Lithium-ion batteries, it enables the development of materials with fast charging capabilities.
A recent paper on Brazil published at the Munich Security Conference 2025 states: “The second issue is the energy transition and the global fight against climate change. Brazil’s critical mineral reserves make it indispensable for the development of clean technologies. It holds 94 percent of the world’s niobium, 22 percent of its graphite, 16 percent of its nickel, and 17 percent of its rare earth elements – all vital components in green technologies.”
However, already in 2020 scientists from the University of São Paulo (USP) pleaded “Keep the Amazon Niobium in the Ground” because of the possible cumulative effects of forest loss resulting from potential development of unexploited rare earths and Niobium (Nb) reserves in the region.
They wrote in the study: “Whilst developing these mineral deposits goes against the economic rationale of matching supply and demand of commodities in international markets, it is conceivable that political will could build a narrative ‘demonstrating’ that opening up the region for mining is in the national interest, thus paving the way for subsidies and public investments in infrastructure that could have devastating consequences for biodiversity and indigenous peoples.”
To date, any mining in demarcated indigenous territories is prohibited by the Brazilian Constitution. However, there is now a strong political lobby in Brasilia that wants to change this. Furthermore there are growing international interests in Brazil’s strategic minerals.
In November of last year, Brazil and China signed an agreement for sustainable mining — whatever the word “sustainable” may mean in this context. The extraction and development of niobium, lithium, and nickel are among the priorities of the agreement. And, of course, the US government also has a keen interest in that heavy metal. In May 2024, the US ambassador to the country, Elizabeth Bagley, said to the media that the US wants partnership with Brazil for Critical Minerals such as Niobium.
But what most of the recent published articles on Niobium mining and production did not tell is, that it comes together with radioactive contamination.
All Niobium mining and processing is associated with the generation of large amounts of radioactive waste. Niobium ore is classified worldwide as a naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) and it occurs in the Earth’s crust along with radioactive elements such as uranium, radium, thorium, potassium-40, and lead-210. Each ton of niobium produced leaves behind a legacy of around 100 to 400 tons of radioactive and toxic waste, according to current statistics from the Brazilian Atomic Energy Commission (CNEN).
Last February, Federal Minister Gilmar Mendes of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) presented a bill that would undermine the Brazilian Constitution and allow mining even in demarcated indigenous territories. If the bill gains a majority in Brasilia, the indigenous peoples of the upper Rio Negro region may have to decide whether to consent to niobium mining in exchange for compensation or to defend consequently their territories.
The Navajo Nation, with over 500 abandoned uranium mines and unsecured radioactive tailings, could show Alvaro Tukano and his people what it means to live in a radioactive contaminated territory.
Norbert Suchanek is a German correspondent in Rio de Janeiro and an experienced environmental journalist. At the beginning of March of this year, he received the Nuclear-Free Future Award in the Education category in New York City.
Contact: norbert.suchanek@online.de
