Brazil Gives Government Veto Power Over Foreign Mining Deals
Congress passed a law on 2026-09-02 granting Brasília authority to block foreign mining takeovers, reshaping deal terms for a $2.8 billion rare-earths acquisition already in motion.
Brazil's Congress passed a law on 2026-09-02 authorizing the federal government to block foreign acquisitions of mining companies and control who gains access to the country's mineral reserves, Oilprice.com reported. The move inserts Brasília directly into a wave of foreign capital flowing into the sector as Western governments race to reduce dependence on Chinese-controlled critical mineral supply chains.6
The legislation establishes a national policy on critical and strategic minerals, a guarantee fund beginning at 2 billion reais (approximately $393 million) to back mining loans, and around 5 billion reais ($980 million) in tax credits over five years for qualifying companies, according to the report. That is a substantial public commitment, but it comes with a condition: Brasília now decides who enters and who does not.6
The timing creates immediate uncertainty for at least one large investor. In April 2026, USA Rare Earth — a company with partial U.S. government backing — agreed to pay $2.8 billion for Serra Verde, described by Oilprice.com as the only company outside Asia mining the full set of magnet rare earths at commercial scale. Whether that deal passes the new government screening regime unchanged is now unsettled.6,3
Serra Verde's profile explains the premium paid. Its mine produces heavy rare earths — the materials China has targeted with export controls during its trade dispute with the United States, according to Foreign Policy reporting from 2026-06-02. Brazil's geology offers a potential source outside Chinese processing dominance. Brasília now wants formal approval rights over who accesses it.2
But the new law does not close the gap that limits Brazil's leverage in practice. Oilprice.com noted in its 2026-09-03 report that Brazil cannot process rare earth ore into finished magnets and will not be able to do so for years. Control over ore in the ground is one thing. Capturing value through downstream processing is another, and on that measure Brazil remains dependent on the same supply chain it is trying to circumvent.6
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has framed the policy in terms of national sovereignty. Speaking at Petrobras events, he declared that the country's subsoil resources must drive domestic industrialization rather than enrich foreign investors, Oilprice.com reported in May 2026. The 2026-09-02 law is the legislative expression of that position.1
The path to it was longer than originally projected. National Mining Agency chief Mauro Sousa told Foreign Policy in July 2026 that as many as 13 separate bills on rare earths and critical minerals were under consideration at that point, with a national policy estimated to arrive within two to three months. The consolidated legislation took longer than that window implied.3
Uranium is moving on a parallel track within Brazil's resource agenda. A draft regulation seen by Bloomberg and reported by Mining.com in July 2026 would open uranium mining to private investment, provided the state-owned nuclear company retains at least a 20% stake in each venture.5 The same month, the National Council on Mineral Policy established a working group with 90 days to assess uranium resources and propose exploration strategies, World Nuclear News reported on 2026-07-08.4
Brazil holds reasonably assured uranium resources of 210,000 tonnes, according to the World Nuclear Association as cited by World Nuclear News. Against that supply base, the world currently produces around 60,000 tonnes of uranium annually while consuming approximately 65,000 tonnes, with the 5,000-tonne shortfall drawn from strategic reserves held by countries and nuclear power plants. That deficit adds context to Brasília's push to secure control over its uranium alongside its rare earths.4
Serra Verde is now the first real test of the new screening authority. The deal pairs U.S. government-backed capital with the most strategically significant rare-earth mine outside Asia. What Brasília does with it will show how the screening regime operates in practice, and how much friction foreign investors should factor into future Brazilian mining positions.6,3