"Brazil’s Senate passes rare earth minerals regulation, paving the way for boosted exploration", 3 September 2026

Brazil’s Senate ... approved a landmark bill to regulate the exploration of critical and strategic minerals ... a step toward increased exploitation of its vast reserves of rare earths that are second only to China ... now heads to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is expected to sign the measure into law.

...The proposed legislation creates a basic legal framework for rare earths and other critical minerals and a fund to provide credit to mining projects... the bill establishes the Mineral Activity Guarantee Fund with a contribution of 2 billion reais ... from the federal government ...along with federal incentives of 5 billion reais ... in tax credits over five years.

... Brazil is positioning itself as an alternative by leveraging its vast reserves while China continues to dominate critical minerals in global supply chains. President Lula emphasized ... "With rare earths, we’re going to change our behavior. We want Brazil to be the big winner of these riches.”

...mining ... could happen near reserves in the Amazon rainforest, comes with major environmental risks ...

... The Climate Observatory ... criticized the bill ... alleging that it increases regulatory flexibility without economic, climate or socioenvironmental trade-offs.