Brazil’s Minas Gerais state outlines strategy for rare earth projects

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The state government of Minas Gerais is mapping out strategies to increase the attractiveness of rare earth projects amid growing interest in the segment.

Brazil holds the second-largest volume of rare earth reserves in the world, behind only China. A large part of these reserves is in Minas Gerais, more precisely in the city of Poços de Caldas, in the southwest of the state, on the border with São Paulo.

“We already have major investments underway and projects in the licensing process in the city of Poços de Caldas. We are the state with the largest volume of rare earths in the country and, in addition to Poços de Caldas, we have several other rare earth hubs already mapped,” said Mateus Simões, deputy governor of Minas Gerais, to BNamericas.

“Our expectation is that, in addition to this first major industrial mining hub in the south of the state, in the Poços de Caldas region, we will have projects beginning their licensing in the central region and in the north of the state of Minas Gerais. These will be the new rare earth frontiers of Brazil”, said Simões.

Brazil’s potential in rare earths has attracted growing interest from international companies seeking to reduce the high global dependence on China in this segment.

In Poços de Caldas, two Australian companies, Viridis Mining and Meteoric Resources, have ongoing projects – Colossus and Caldeira, respectively – which together amount to a capex estimated at US$655 million.

According to the vice governor, Minas Gerais wants to establish conditions for the creation, in the state, of a processing chain for the extracted rare earth minerals.

“From a processing standpoint, this may vary from project to project. The Poços de Caldas projects are more ambitious, moving a bit further along the processing chain toward metallurgy, which is more similar to what we already have here in the state in the niobium segment. Minas Gerais is already a specialist in this [creating conditions for processing], since it already controls 90% of the global niobium market, which is why we are very excited about this prospect associated with rare earths,” said Simões.

Currently, Codemig, a subsidiary of the State Development Company (Codemge), maintains a partnership with the niobium producer CBMM, receiving royalties for the production carried out by the private company.

“We have a very well-structured investment plan in research by Codemge, because it holds mineral rights that relate directly to the production of rare earths in large volumes. Through Codemge, we already have a defined policy [regarding the development of a rare earths chain] that we intend to present to the market next year”, said Simões.

According to the vice governor, the disclosure of details of this plan, with specific policies for rare earths, should take place after the green light is given for the first project licenses in the state.

“We are waiting for these first licenses, even to gauge the market’s temperature and the appetite of domestic and international investors, so that we can make a presentation, which I believe could still be in the first quarter of 2026,” said Simões.

The State Environmental Foundation (Feam) and the State Environmental Policy Council (Copam) are expected to meet on December 19, 2025 to evaluate the licenses for Viridis and Meteoric’s projects.

(The original version of this content was written in Portuguese)