During his participation at the Brazil Lithium & Critical Minerals Summit 2025, Caio Mário Trivellato, Director of the Brazilian National Mining Agency (ANM), highlighted key initiatives aimed at streamlining the agency and improving the regulatory environment to attract new investments to Brazil's mining sector.
Trivellato explained that ANM is preparing the first public offering of areas to be auctioned through B3, Brazil's stock exchange. The goal is to attract investors interested in strategic minerals, especially within the context of the global energy transition. Approximately 7,000 mining areas will be made available, with the auction slated for the second half of this year. Additional auctions are scheduled for 2026. “We have a significant volume of areas with mineral potential that needs to be revealed to the international public. For that, capital is essential for drilling and identifying economically and strategically relevant deposits,” he said.
The Director emphasized that ANM has been working to ensure greater regulatory predictability, aiming to create a secure and stable legal environment. He pointed out that Brazil is increasingly attracting interest from mining companies and foreign investors, particularly in the state of Minas Gerais, especially in the Jequitinhonha Valley, where key lithium projects are concentrated.
Digital Transformation and Strengthened Oversight
Trivellato also presented the progress of ANM’s digital transformation. Modernization efforts include simplifying internal processes and digitizing operations, as well as integrating public data with environmental agencies to enhance transparency and governance in granting mining titles.
Another key highlight was the financial contribution made possible by the Mariana Agreement, which will inject BRL 1 billion into ANM over the next 20 years. Managed by BNDES, this funding aims to improve oversight and the agency's infrastructure. “This represents BRL 50 million per year directly applied to improving regulatory activities. Our focus is to prevent tragedies like Brumadinho and Mariana,” he stated.
He further emphasized that the new control mechanisms aim to ensure uniform decision-making and avoid discrepancies in how companies are treated. “We need firm and standardized criteria to ensure fairness, respect for communities, and compliance with environmental legislation,” he added.
Finally, Trivellato reiterated that ANM’s actions are not merely promises, but efforts to demonstrate concrete results. “Our job is to regulate and oversee so that society benefits from strategic minerals, alongside the social and environmental compensation that every project must deliver,” he concluded.
"We are going to offer all these areas through bidding rounds in the next two years. We're going to have 28,000 areas for anyone who wants to invest in Brazil," said Trivellato during his exclusive conversation with The Net-Zero Circle.
