The country has registered 2,162 mining research processes since 2023, but only has 8 mining concessions
Brazil has registered 2,162 processes relating to rare earth mineral research since 2023, according to a survey carried out by Poder360 based on data from the (National Mining Agency), which runs until January 2026. The volume includes research applications and authorizations, initial stages in which companies request or receive approval to study areas with possible occurrence of these elements.
Despite the race for new areas, Brazil only has 8 mining concessions for rare earths, a phase that authorizes commercial extraction. They are all in Goiás and are linked to the same company: Serra Verde, the only company with relevant commercial production in the country.
BOOM IN THE SEARCH FOR VIABLE RESERVES
By 2023, the total number of processes related to the research of areas for the exploration of rare earths was only 343, taking into account that ANM data goes back to 1975.
According to the director-president of the (Brazilian Mining Institute), Pablo Cesário, part of the recent advance in the search for rare earths is linked to a regulatory change implemented by . The legislation changed the treatment given to minerals previously classified within the logic of nuclear ores.
According to him, this framework restricted private action, since nuclear activities were restricted to the state monopoly. The impasse with rare earths occurs because deposits of these elements may be associated with the presence of minerals that contain uranium and thorium, elements classified as nuclear.
Before the legal change, this association meant that some of these projects were subject to more restrictive rules, which made research and mining by the private sector difficult.
“He treated everything as if it were nuclear. Being nuclear, it becomes a state monopoly”, stated Cesário.
Current legislation allows the private sector to operate in the research and mining of nuclear ores, although it has maintained the monopoly of (Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil) in stages linked to nuclear activity, as determined in the Constitution.
Cesário states, however, that there is also the influence of the global demand for rare earths. The 17 elements of the periodic table that make up this group supply strategic chains in the contemporary economy. They are used, for example, in data center components that support artificial intelligence tools, as well as electric car engines, wind turbines, batteries, semiconductors, sensors, screens and energy storage systems.
With the advancement of these technologies, rare earths gained economic and geopolitical value. This has increased the search for areas where these elements can be found in concentrations sufficient to justify commercial exploitation.
Despite their name, rare earths are not necessarily scarce in nature. The term refers to a set of 17 chemical elements with magnetic, optical and electronic properties important for the high-tech industry.
The difficulty lies in finding deposits with adequate content, extracting the ore in an economically viable way and mastering the separation and processing stages, which concentrate a large part of the chain’s value.
PRODUCTION IN BRAZIL CURRENTLY
Despite the incentive for mineral research, the advancement of processes has not yet translated into relevant production. Brazil has the 2nd largest reserves of rare earths in the world, estimated at 21 million tons, but produced only 2,000 tons in 2025. The volume places the country only in 9th position globally in production, behind countries with smaller or less known reserves, such as Myanmar, Thailand, India and Madagascar.
Today, the only relevant commercial operation in the country is that of , in Goiás. The company holds 8 rare earth mining concessions, located in nearby regions. According to Cesário, the company is ahead of the others because it started earlier and managed to develop its own technological route to reach the production of rare earth carbonates.
“They are daring… Pioneers, indeed. The technology they have today was invented by them”he stated.
The expert explains that Serra Verde took around 15 years to start production. For him, the company’s difference was combining mineral research, technological development and processing capacity.
This technological route involves transforming the ore into concentrates and then into rare earth carbonates. The last stage is considered one of the most sensitive in the chain, because it requires technology that is not widely used outside of China.
According to Cesário, industrial-scale processing capacity is the main factor that separates countries with mineral reserves from those capable of competing in the global product chain.
“This technology is highly controlled. In fact, only China has the processing capacity on an industrial scale. Some companies outside the Chinese have partially”, these.
In April 2026, Serra Verde was incorporated into the North American company in an operation valued at US$2.8 billion. The transaction led to Serra Verde shareholders becoming the largest individual shareholders of the combined company in the United States.
Although the operation was interpreted as the sale of a Brazilian company to foreigners, Serra Verde had already been conceived with international capital before being incorporated by USA Rare Earth. The mining company was formed with investors from the United States and the United Kingdom.
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FUTURE OF RARE EARTHS IN BRAZIL
Despite still small production, Cesário sees room for accelerated expansion of the sector in Brazil. According to him, other companies are in earlier phases of the mining process and may move towards production projects in the coming years.
The CEO of Ibram cites the Borborema project, in southern Bahia, as one of the most promising. According to him, the company already has a proven reserve, is capitalized and should start with a refining structure in the Salvador chemical complex.
“I think the next one is Borborema. We will probably see this soon in Bahia”he stated.
Bahia, like Goiás, is a state highly coveted by mining companies wishing to enter this market. The region has been the subject of 868 research authorization processes for rare earth mining since 1975.
According to Cesário, Borborema’s project could be equivalent to Serra Verde’s in technological capacity, production and volume.
He also estimates that Brazil could have 3 to 4 projects equivalent to Serra Verde in the coming years.
“I think we will soon advance in the production of these carbonates. We’re going to accelerate very quickly.”, he stated.
Progress, however, depends on the projects being able to leave the mineral research phase and reach commercial mining. It will also be necessary to overcome the technological processing bottleneck, a stage in which the greatest value in the chain is concentrated and which is still dominated by a few countries and companies.
