Vale hands over Canadian nickel complex to Exiro in $200M deal
Brazilian mining giant Vale has finalized the transfer of its Thompson Mine Complex in Manitoba to Exiro Nickel, retaining a minority stake and offtake rights.
Global investors holding shares in major mining companies are seeing a significant shift in how critical electric vehicle battery metals are sourced and funded. On October 16, 2026, Brazilian mining giant Vale S.A. announced that its subsidiary, Vale Base Metals, completed a transaction to transfer ownership and operations of the historic Thompson Mine Complex in Manitoba, Canada, to a newly formed entity.
The new operator, Exiro Nickel Company, takes over the asset backed by a consortium committed to investing up to US$200 million (approximately CAD$280 million) to secure the long-term future of the complex. The purchasing consortium is led by Exiro Minerals Corp., alongside Orion Resource Partners LP and the Canada Growth Fund Inc., a federal public investment vehicle. Together, they hold an 81.1% majority stake in the new operating company.
For Vale, the transaction represents a strategic shift toward asset-light supply security rather than direct operational management. Vale Canada Limited will retain an 18.9% minority interest in Exiro Nickel. Crucially, Vale has secured a multi-year offtake agreement to purchase the nickel concentrate produced at the Thompson mill, ensuring the Brazilian parent company maintains its strategic pipeline of Canadian nickel without bearing the direct capital expenditure of underground development.
The Thompson Mine Complex, which has been in operation for over 60 years, is located along the Thompson Nickel Belt, the fourth-largest Class 1 nickel sulphide resource globally. It currently accounts for an estimated 10% to 15% of Canada’s annual nickel production. The deal successfully concludes a strategic review of the Manitoba operations that Vale Base Metals originally launched in January 2025.
This restructuring highlights the rising geopolitical importance of North American critical minerals. The Canadian government actively backed the transaction, with the Canada Growth Fund contributing up to US$85 million of the total investment to protect approximately 675 local mining jobs and reinforce Western supply chains for electric vehicles and energy storage.
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For retail investors, the transaction directly impacts Vale S.A., which is listed in New York and widely held in global portfolios. Investors can also gain diversified exposure to Vale and the broader Brazilian corporate sector through exchange-traded funds like the iShares MSCI Brazil ETF, which holds the mining giant as one of its top underlying assets.