5 min
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Ibtissam El Assad

Brazil Names 27 Critical and Strategic Minerals in Push to Build a Domestic Supply Chain

AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH:

A new framework takes shape

The list was approved on 5 November at the first plenary meeting of the National Council for the Industrialisation of Critical and Strategic Minerals (CIMCE). It followed the publication, a day earlier, of Decree No. 13,146, which sets the economic, socio-environmental and climate criteria used to define and update the list.

Both measures implement Law No. 15,506 of 16 September 2026, which created Brazil's National Policy for Critical and Strategic Minerals (PNMCE). The list will be reviewed every four years to reflect economic, technological and geopolitical change.

Three levels of priority

The 27 minerals are divided into three classes according to their importance for national security, industrial development and supply chain resilience.

The high-priority group includes rare earths, graphite, lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese, silicon and uranium. According to the government, these minerals combine high geopolitical risk, strong global demand and low substitutability. Most are central to the energy transition, from battery materials to the copper used in power grids and the rare earths used in the permanent magnets of electric vehicle motors and wind turbines.

The medium-priority group covers tungsten, chromium, vanadium, tantalum, titanium, phosphate, potash and sulphur. Alongside metals used in defence and advanced manufacturing, it includes key fertiliser inputs, reflecting the agricultural sector's reliance on imports.

The lower-priority group includes niobium, tin, iron, zinc, gold, magnesium, molybdenum, thorium, aluminium and platinum group metals. The presence of niobium and iron in this group stands out, as Brazil is already a leading global producer of both. The ranking appears to reflect where the government sees supply risk and a need for support, rather than the economic weight of each mineral.

Moving beyond raw exports

The policy's central aim is to keep more value in Brazil. Márcio Elias Rosa, Minister of Development, Industry, Trade and Services, said the country has long "exported mineral wealth as ore and imported it back as a finished product", and that the new strategy is designed to end that cycle.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy told G1 that the list will guide mineral policy and provide greater predictability. Financing will be directed towards projects that expand domestic production and processing, with the wider objective of diversifying supply of materials used in electric vehicles, renewable energy, defence and advanced technology.

What the list unlocks

Only projects involving listed minerals, entered in the National Registry of Critical and Strategic Minerals Projects and approved by CIMCE, will be eligible for support under the PNMCE.

The main instrument is the Mineral Activity Guarantee Fund (FGAM), designed to share risk and help projects access bank credit. It will receive up to R$2 billion (around US$364 million) from the federal government, with possible contributions from states, municipalities and private investors. A separate Federal Programme for Critical and Strategic Minerals (PFMCE) will be capped at R$1 billion (around US$180 million) a year between 2030 and 2034.

These measures add to the R$5 billion (around US$909 million) for rare earths exploration approved by President Lula da Silva in September. The criteria for approving or rejecting individual projects have not yet been defined, and the council is expected to meet again before the end of the year to refine supply chain priorities.

Closer scrutiny of transactions

The list also has implications for deal-making. Under Law No. 15,506, any direct or indirect change of control of a company holding mining rights for a critical or strategic mineral must be cleared by CIMCE through a screening mechanism. With the list now approved, this requirement applies to all 27 substances, and investors will need to factor it into transaction timelines.

At the same time, the government has indicated that it does not intend to close the sector. According to Bloomberg, President Lula said the state should not have absolute control over exploration, processing and industrialisation, and that Brazil wants to work with other countries.

Why the list matters

Brazil joins a growing number of countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia and the members of the European Union, that have formalised critical minerals lists to guide investment. Its approach, however, is explicitly industrial. The aim is less about securing imports and more about moving Brazilian resources further along the value chain.

The country has clear strengths, including significant deposits of rare earths, graphite, nickel and lithium, and a largely renewable electricity mix that could support lower-carbon processing. Projects such as the Caldeira rare earth project in Minas Gerais illustrate the type of upstream pipeline the policy hopes to build on.

The financial impact should not be overstated. The federal contribution to the FGAM is modest compared with the cost of building refineries, magnet plants or battery materials facilities, and the PFMCE will not begin until 2030. Whether the policy delivers will depend on the fund's ability to mobilise private and international capital, and on how quickly CIMCE sets out clear rules for project approval.

For now, the list offers the clearest signal yet of which minerals Brazil intends to prioritise, and which projects are likely to be first in line for support.

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