Flaviopédia Português
Brazil that Grows

Critical minerals

underground wealth turning into skilled jobs here at home

Proposes adding value in Brazil to critical minerals such as lithium, niobium and rare earths, with the State as regulator, attraction of foreign capital and faster licensing and mining rights processes.

In the program: [p. 55, 56] · Translated by Flaviopédia from the official Portuguese text; the Portuguese quote is authoritative. Read the original in Portuguese

What the program says

Data centers and the energy transition run on minerals that few countries have, and Brazil is one of them. We have lithium, niobium, graphite, copper, nickel, uranium and rare earths, essential inputs for semiconductors, batteries, wind turbines, electric vehicles, defense and artificial intelligence. And we have something that almost no one has together: the mineral and the clean, competitive energy to process it here at home. Instead of only exporting the raw rock and buying back the finished product, we will add value in Brazil, connecting our mineral wealth, our energy and the demand from data centers and new technologies in a single strategy. The State will act as regulator and coordinator, not as entrepreneur, supported by six pillars: a clear and stable regulatory framework, fast and technical licensing, attraction of capital and technology, verticalization with market incentives, governance and transparency. We will work to attract the foreign capital and technology that already exist in the world, applying here what other countries have already mastered and transferring that knowledge to Brazil. To succeed in this challenge, we will treat investment in mining with the same respect and attention with which we will treat investment in manufacturing. We will establish international partnerships with all countries that want Brazil’s cooperation, without prejudice or ideological rancor. We will sort out credit guarantees for project financing and speed up licensing and the mining rights process. In this way the country stops merely extracting and exporting raw material and starts adding value here at home, which means skilled jobs and income that stay in Brazil. We will help the world make the energy transition. [p. 55, 56]

In plain language

  • The text states that Brazil has lithium, niobium, graphite, copper, nickel, uranium and rare earths, used in semiconductors, batteries, wind turbines, electric vehicles, defense and artificial intelligence.
  • It proposes adding value to these minerals in the country, instead of only exporting raw material, bringing together mineral wealth, energy and the demand from data centers and new technologies in a single strategy.
  • The State would act as regulator and coordinator, not as entrepreneur, based on six pillars cited in the text: a clear and stable regulatory framework, fast and technical licensing, attraction of capital and technology, verticalization with market incentives, governance and transparency.
  • It provides for attracting foreign capital and technology, establishing international partnerships with all countries that want to cooperate, sorting out credit guarantees for projects and speeding up licensing and mining rights processes.

What is not in the program

  • It does not name the legal instrument for the new regulatory framework or what it would change.
  • It does not detail which market incentives would be used for verticalization.
  • It does not explain how the credit guarantees would be sorted out or who would provide them.
  • It presents no targets, timelines or volumes of production and processing.