The subject will be discussed this Thursday (May 7, 2026) at the meeting between Lula and Trump, at the White House
The recent transfer of the rare earth mining company, located in Minaçu (GO), to the North American USA Rare Earth for US$ 2.8 billion in April 2026, has been used by the government and allies as a motto for the speech that the government defends Brazil from foreign exploration. Although the president (PT), allies and part of the media are suggesting that the government of Goiás “delivered” A strategic Brazilian company to North American capital, the mining company never actually belonged to Brazil. Furthermore, the federal government was aware of and participated in the entire process, but chose to interfere.
The exploration of critical minerals on Brazilian soil will be one of the topics to be discussed by Lula with the President of the United States, Donald Trump (Republican Party), in a meeting at the White House this Thursday (May 7, 2026). The PT member’s stance in relation to rare minerals is protectionist. During a visit to India in February, Lula said that Brazil should take advantage of its reserves to boost national industry: “We don’t just want to export raw materials. We want to produce here and create jobs here”he declared.
The government sent and the Chamber approved on Wednesday (May 6) the bill that regulates the sector and allows the government to veto the sale of mining companies to foreign companies. It also authorizes tax incentives for companies that process and transform materials in Brazil. For the USA, it is about finding another source of rare minerals (in this case, Brazil) so as not to depend exclusively on China, which dominates around 90% of the processing and refining of rare earths in the world. Brazil is also trying to avoid being punished by the US, which complains about unfair trade practices by Brazilians.
Serra Verde was founded in 2010 with entirely foreign capital: (Boston), (Houston) e (UK, from former Xstrata CEO Mick Davis). There is no Brazilian founder, there is no national fund. The operation represented a change of control between foreign groups, and not the sale of a Brazilian company to foreigners. The BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development) approved loans to support the venture controlled by foreigners in 2025, under the Lula government.
What happened in April 2026 was that foreign capital changed hands — it left the Euro-American structure and went to another American company. Just that.
And Goiás did not authorize anything — it had no competence, despite the Goiás government with the US government which has been described as “declaration of intentions in good faith” when Serra Verde is about to be sold. The fact is that the basement belongs to the Unionas determined by article 20, item 9 of the . Mining concessions are federal powers. Transfer of ownership is federal. Analysis of foreign capital in strategic assets is federal. States carry out environmental licensing, and nothing more. The Serra Verde sale operation never went through the government of Goiás — it went through the Union, and the Union did nothing.
The fact is that Brazil had 3 chances to act and did not act on any of them when it came to regulating the use and export of its rare earths. This inaction went through the Lula 2, Dilma 1, Dilma 2, Temer, Bolsonaro and Lula 3 governments.
The 1st was during the Lula 2 government, in which the mining concession was granted without conditions. For 14 years, Serra Verde exported practically all of its raw ore to Shenghe Resources (a partially state-owned Chinese company based in Chengdu, founded in 1998). During the governments of Lula, Dilma, Temer and Bolsonaro, there was no objection to the delivery of low-value-added raw materials to China. The PT began to speak out only when inputs stopped going to the Chinese market.
The 2nd chance was in August 2025, in which the American agency DFC (US Development Finance Corporation) approved a loan of US$465 million to Serra Verde, increased to US$565 million in December. As a result, the mining company unilaterally terminated contracts with China 7 years ahead of schedule. The operation is public and was publicized by the British newspaper Financial Times in November 2025. In October 2025, Lula met with the US president (Republican Party) in Malaysia, with the topic on the table. Even so, Itamaraty, ANM (National Mining Agency), MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy) and Civil House did not interfere.
The 3rd chance took place on April 1, 2026, when the FT revealed that the DFC loan contained clauses determining the commercial destination of the ore. DFC’s head of investments, Conor Coleman, confirmed to the newspaper that controls were in place to ensure metals were “for the United States and aligned countries”explicitly excluding China. 20 days later, USA Rare Earth purchased Serra Verde, establishing a 15-year exclusive supply agreement with an American SPV.
While the party’s action in Goiás as “a true attack on national sovereignty”Itamaraty responded to the FT about commercial exclusivity clauses saying that “technical teams from Brasília and Washington are dealing with the matter in regular meetings”. The statement shows that the federal government knew about the operation, knew that it was a federal and not a state negotiation and had the authority to intervene if it wanted.
After Trump’s in July 2025, the Lula government fueled the campaign “Brazil belongs to Brazilians”. But only now, with Serra Verde already transferred to United States control, has the Lula government decided to send a bill on critical minerals to Congress.
