Brazilian Senate approves National Critical Minerals Policy to boost industrialization

Published at: 03/09/2026 11:01 AM

The Brazilian Senate approved the bill that creates the National Policy for Critical and Strategic Minerals, an initiative aimed at encouraging the domestic processing of raw materials, breaking with the primary export model of non-value-added goods and consolidating sovereignty over the country's natural resources.

According to information reported by Telesur, the regulatory framework contemplates the creation of a private equity guarantee fund with state participation of up to 400 million dollars, in addition to a tax credit package close to 1 billion dollars to leverage the domestic industry.

The international media explained that between the years 2030 and 2034, access to these annual incentives, set at a ceiling of 200 million dollars per year, will be reserved only to companies incorporated in accordance with Brazilian legislation that certify real investments in local mining transformation.

The legislation also provides for the creation of an Industrialization Council subordinate to the Presidency of the Republic to oversee the sale of concessions and protect strategic geological information against foreign alliances that may compromise the State's economic security. With the second largest rare earth reserve on the planet, the country seeks to strengthen its technological autonomy in the global energy transition and to deepen its integration into the BRICS bloc.

Despite the sovereignty approach to regulations, social movements and environmental organizations expressed concern about the reduced space granted to communities in the new institutional framework.

The representation within the Industrialization Council, made up of 15 members of the Government, two from the private sector and just one from civil society, raises alarms in popular, indigenous and rural sectors in the face of the acceleration of extractive projects and the risk of territorial damage.

Mazo News Team