Brazil stands at the forefront of the global energy transition thanks to its vast reserves of critical minerals. These resources have fast become the focus of geopolitical debates in recent years, as countries seek to guarantee supplies of minerals that are essential for clean technologies such as electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels.
Brazil has emerged as an important supplier of critical minerals, holding roughly 94% of the world’s niobium reserves, 22% of global graphite reserves, 16% of nickel reserves and 17% of rare earth elements. Lithium, the cornerstone of modern batteries, is also abundant in Brazil, and companies are scaling up production.
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With these resources, Brazil is uniquely positioned to become a strategic supplier of minerals for the global energy transition. Lawmakers are working to improve the business environment in an effort to help companies take advantage of rising global demand for the products but also to help Brazil to move up the value chain and start sustainably processing critical minerals locally.
Addressing concerns about how these resources are produced, and avoiding the pitfalls of critical minerals production in other regions amid concerns about water contamination, biodiversity loss and greenhouse gas emissions, has emerged as a key theme for business and lawmakers in Brazil.
Brazil’s push for green critical minerals
Amid these rising global concerns, Brazil is striving to position itself as a leader in sustainable mining practices. This move comes after Brazil’s mining sector was thrust onto the global stage following two mining disasters in the past decade: in 2015, the Fundão tailings dam at Samarco’s iron ore mine near the city of Mariana ruptured, killing 19 people.
In addition to the human toll, the incident – which contaminated the Doce River and cut off water supplies to multiple cities – is considered to be one of the largest environmental disasters in Brazilian history. Less than five years later, in 2019, one of Vale’s tailings dams at the Brazilian mining giant’s Feijão mine in Brumadinho collapsed, killing 272 people, making it the deadliest mining disaster Brazil has witnessed.
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By GlobalDataAfter these incidents, Brazil Congress conducted a significant investigation into the country’s mining sector, which resulted in an extensive list of proposals to improve safety and reduce the environmental impact of mining in Brazil.
“These discussions put the mining sector at the centre of political debates and resulted in new legislation, including a law that set standards for tailings dams,” Minas Gerais Congressman Zé Silva tells Mining Technology.
This inspired members of Brazil’s legislature to form the Sustainable Mining Caucus, which aims to help develop long-term, strategic planning for the sector.
Congressman Silva has been spearheading debates over the creation of the National Critical Minerals Policy, which Congress is currently debating. Silva, who authored the bill, tells Mining Technology that the new plan aims to help position Brazil as a leader in sustainable critical minerals production and to demonstrate the country’s potential to be a reliable partner in the global effort to guarantee supplies of these minerals.
The proposal aims to define clear objectives and measurable indicators for Brazil’s critical minerals sector, enhancing transparency in data reporting and bolstering support for extraction and processing activities. It seeks to consolidate existing environmental licensing mechanisms to facilitate approvals and ensure alignment with sustainability and strategic priorities.
The framework consists of three primary pillars. The first pillar, taxonomy, classifies critical and strategic minerals, identifies those essential to the energy transition, and incorporates concepts such as urban mining and junior mining enterprises. The second pillar, governance, establishes the Critical and Strategic Minerals Committee, which will formulate policy guidelines, prioritise projects, assist with environmental licensing, promote international collaboration, expand workforce training and improve geological mapping.
The third pillar introduces financial and incentive tools for the sector. These include a Mineral Activity Guarantee Fund, organised as a private fund to provide credit risk coverage; a Federal Programme for Minerals Essential to the Energy Transition, which will allocate resources to mineral processing and urban mining; and a range of fiscal and regulatory incentives, from tax exemptions for technology usage to the integration of mining activities in infrastructure development frameworks, complemented by requirements for companies to invest in research and innovation.
In parallel, Brazil’s Ministry of Development, Industry, Foreign Trade and Services has prepared a new “map of opportunities” to highlight the country’s potential in critical minerals. The initiative aims to guide investment, policy and international partnerships, ensuring that Brazil leverages its mineral wealth strategically while aligning with sustainability goals. It also emphasises the importance of adding value domestically, encouraging mineral processing and transformation rather than relying solely on raw exports. The ministry aims to position Brazil as a reliable supplier that avoids the environmental and social pitfalls seen in neighbouring mining countries such as Colombia, Peru and Venezuela.
The private sector is also taking a leading role in assisting in shaping policy, in an effort to help speed up the sustainable development of the sector. In November, a group of companies in the sector, including PLS, Centaurus and Viridis, announced they were uniting to form Brazil’s Critical Minerals Association.
“Brazil has fantastic geological potential and skilled labour, but there are still challenges for the country to become a major global player in critical mining,” Marisa Cesar, chairman of the association and director of corporate affairs and sustainability at mining company PLS, tells Mining Technology.
She adds that the association was “created to bring together companies working with minerals essential to the energy transition and to establish Brazil as a global reference, with innovation, socio-environmental responsibility and a stable regulatory environment”.
Lithium producers take the lead
While politicians in Brasilia debate the next steps, companies are already investing in sustainability. One of the most notable examples is Sigma Lithium, a company operating in Minas Gerais. Sigma has pioneered a “Quintuple Zero” approach – producing lithium without tailings dams, harmful chemicals, carbon emissions, fossil fuels or significant water consumption.
Sigma is one of several companies eyeing the critical minerals potential of the Jequitinhonha Valley region of Minas Gerais state for their projects. The valley, referred to as the country’s ‘Lithium Valley’, has set the standard for sustainable production in Brazil.
Sigma’s Grota do Cirilo project operates with 100% renewable hydropower, recycles 90% of its water and uses dry processing with gravity separation, avoiding tailings dams entirely. The company commissioned the plant in 2023, the same year it entered commercial operation. It has a mining and processing capacity of 1.5 million tonnes of lithium ore per year. Sigma is on track to produce 270,000 tonnes of lithium concentrate this year, with output set to double next year.
Similarly, Australia’s PLS (formerly Pilbara Minerals) is also investing in sustainable lithium mining in the Jequitinhonha region, after acquiring mining company Latin Resources earlier this year. PLS has invested heavily in the local community, part of the company’s Social and Environmental Development Plan. The plan includes a broad range of projects including the donation of medical equipment, support for the construction of a new landfill, investments in childcare as well as the creation of professional training courses.
“It is impossible to establish a mining project without engaging all stakeholders – the community, the municipality, the federal and state governments, and non-governmental organisations,” Cesar says. “To work effectively and ensure compliance, everyone must be involved.”
