but it is the single largest producing asset in the country. Its parent,
to 2034. The numbers tell a story about scale that other Brazilian
operations can only envy.¹²
gold operations in the Americas and the single biggest contributor to
the mine accounting for 13.2 percent of national production — almost
double the share of the next-largest asset, Jacobina in Bahia.¹ That
ranking has been stable for more than a decade, underscoring the
durability of Paracatu's economics through gold's price cycles.
its size. Head grades sit in the range typical of bulk mines rather than
high-grade narrow-vein operations; what makes the project work is
volume. Paracatu moves an enormous amount of material, and modern
processing technology — including fine-grind concentration and optimised
cyanide leaching — converts relatively low-grade ore into a reliable
ounce stream.
year, meaning Paracatu alone accounted for close to one-fifth of it on
an ounce basis.³ Few mid-tier jurisdictions are as dependent on a single
operation.
top-of-the-league status. The 601,000 ounces marked a stable performance
in a year when global volatility was the norm rather than the exception.
several operations entered care-and-maintenance status on cost pressures
that did not hit Brazil in the same way.
closed 2025 at US$4,289.48 per troy ounce.⁴ Applying that year-end
reference to a 601,000-ounce output implies gross revenue approaching
all-in sustaining costs, the cash generation profile was among the
strongest of any single gold operation globally.
elsewhere in the company's global footprint — including the Great Bear
project in Canada and continued investment at Tasiast in Mauritania.
company's decision to lift capital expenditure at Paracatu to US$235
million in 2026, up from US$189 million in 2025.² The increase is not a
maintenance bump — it is a deliberate reinvestment in an asset whose
economics have improved with the price.
technical report matters operationally as much as economically: it
formalises the assumption that Paracatu will still be producing nine
years from now, and it gives the supplier base, the local workforce and
the Minas Gerais state government a planning horizon that materially
informs their own investment decisions.
material that is economic at US$4,000 was simply outside the
calculation. The 2025-2026 price environment re-optimised the mine plan,
pulling material into reserve classification that had previously sat in
the resource bucket. That is how gold-price cycles show up in long-life
operations — not as a production jump, but as a life extension.
is not the only important one. The company also operates Fort Knox and
of mature, high-volume cash generator.
capital, Paracatu is not the target — it is the source. The 2026 capex
uplift at the site is therefore best read as a signal that the company
sees residual optimisation value rather than transformational upside. A
mature asset does not need transformation; it needs reliability and
longevity, and the 2034 mine life delivers exactly that.
country up 64.8 percent to R$39.3 billion in 2025, according to IBRAM's
annual yearbook, Paracatu's contribution is not just a portfolio story —
it is a macroeconomic one.⁴ The asset pays a large tax and royalty bill
at the federal, state and municipal levels, and its continuation through
surrounding region of Minas Gerais.
to. Three lessons stand out.
running on low-grade ore can deliver world-class output when processing
is optimised and infrastructure is in place. Several Brazilian mid-tier
producers — including Aura Minerals at its recently commissioned
precisely this logic.
continuously operated under the same broad regulatory framework for
decades, and the absence of abrupt policy surprises has enabled
long-duration capital planning. New projects entering the Brazilian
pipeline will benefit from the precedent.
capex commitment is not a one-off. It tells mid-tier operators and
service providers that the industrial infrastructure of Brazilian gold —
logistics, consumables, specialised labour — will remain supported
through the next decade.
well-run Brazilian gold asset can do in a generational price
environment. The 601,000-ounce figure, the 2034 life extension and the
price-levered, reinvested. Other Brazilian operations will not all match
it, but several have credible paths to it, and investors looking for
exposure to the theme increasingly find Brazilian gold an efficient way
in.
scale advantage.