National Policy on Critical and Strategic Minerals is enacted

Learn about and understand the purposes and instruments of the Policy, the definitions of critical and strategic minerals, and the roles of the authorities and entities involved

Critical and strategic minerals are no longer an issue confined to the mining sector and have moved to the center of the economic and geopolitical agenda not only in Brazil, but globally. They are essential to batteries, permanent magnets for electric motors, defense equipment, fertilizers and the energy transition itself. In this context, Brazil, which holds some of the world’s most significant reserves, still lacked a dedicated legal framework to address these assets and their production and processing chain.

This landscape changed on Thursday, September 17, with the publication of Law No. 15,506/2026 and Decree No. 13,118/2026. The Law established the National Policy on Critical and Strategic Minerals (“PNMCE“), while the Decree addressed the National Council for the Industrialization of Critical and Strategic Minerals (“CIMCE“) and established the Advisory Group on Critical and Strategic Minerals (“GAMCE“). The enactment of the Law and its regulation by the Decree had been eagerly awaited by the mining industry, with the expectation that the matter would be addressed with greater predictability and legal certainty, thereby enabling investments by both Brazilian and foreign companies.

The new framework combines two complementary approaches: on the one hand, it introduces a robust set of incentives for investment and value addition within Brazil and, on the other, it mobilizes control and traceability mechanisms aimed at safeguarding the country’s sovereignty and economic security. Below, we highlight the main innovations introduced by the Law and the Decree.

The purposes of the PNMCE

The purpose of the PNMCE is to sustainably foster the exploration, mining, processing, mineral transformation and urban mining of critical and strategic minerals, as well as to promote the development of the industry, distribution, trade and consumption of products derived from such minerals.

Definitions of critical minerals and strategic minerals

The Law establishes two distinct concepts that are central to the PNMCE and serve as the gateway to the entire incentive and control regime provided for thereunder. They are:

• (i) Critical minerals: mineral resources required for key sectors of the national economy whose availability is insufficient, unstable or vulnerable due to inadequate domestic production, heavy reliance on imports, geographic concentration of foreign supply, geopolitical risks, market restrictions or technological bottlenecks, and whose scarcity may pose a material risk to the country’s economy, particularly to: (a) ensure the energy transition; (b) guarantee food and nutritional security; and (c) safeguard national and technological security and sovereignty in sectors strategic to the country.
  
• (ii) Strategic minerals: mineral resources relevant to the country due to significant reserves and that are essential to the economy for generating a trade surplus, technological development, regional development – even if not directly related to the energy transition – or reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the relevant production chain.

The screening mechanism

The Law granted CIMCE and the National Mining Agency (“ANM“) authority, through a screening mechanism, to approve:

• changes in the corporate control of a company holding rights to critical or strategic minerals;
• access to geological information of strategic interest;
• international contracts, agreements or partnerships involving the supply of critical and strategic minerals under conditions that may affect the country’s economic or geopolitical security; and
• the sale, assignment or encumbrance of granted mining rights.

The new institutional governance: CIMCE and GAMCE

The Law and the Decree created and regulated two bodies that are fundamental to the structuring, development and implementation of the PNMCE. Their roles and key features are as follows:

(i) CIMCE: the body responsible for coordinating, planning and monitoring the PNMCE, with authority to propose public policies and actions aimed at developing the production chains of critical and strategic minerals in Brazil. The Decree regulated its powers, among which the following are particularly noteworthy:

• prepare the National Plan on Critical and Strategic Minerals (“PLMCE”);
• review and approve projects, after consulting the ANM and in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the PLMCE;
• accredit and qualify projects for purposes of applying the instruments provided for under the PNMCE; and
• designate projects considered to be priorities, giving precedence to critical and strategic minerals essential to high-technology products and processes and to those produced by emerging mining industry chains, among other powers.

The Decree also addressed CIMCE’s governance, dividing it into the Plenary, the Executive Committee and the Executive Secretariat. The following aspects of each body are noteworthy:

• Plenary: CIMCE’s highest-level body for policy formulation, strategic guidance, planning and the issuance of regulations. It is composed of 12 Ministers of State, in addition to the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, and is chaired by the Chief of Staff Office of the Presidency. The Plenary also includes one representative of the States and the Federal District, one representative of the Municipalities, two representatives of the private sector and one representative of higher education institutions;
• Executive Committee: the body responsible for decisions on individual matters falling within CIMCE’s jurisdiction; and
• Executive Secretariat: the body responsible for administrative organization, coordination and case preparation, as well as for providing technical and administrative support to the Plenary and the Executive Committee.

(ii) GAMCE: an advisory collegiate body tasked with directly advising the President of the Republic. At the President’s request, it is responsible for issuing opinions on matters related to critical and strategic minerals, including through the preparation of analyses, studies and recommendations.

The instruments of the PNMCE

The Law established a series of financial, administrative and legal instruments intended to implement the PNMCE. Their functions and key features are as follows:

(i) Mining Activity Guarantee Fund (“FGAM”): the Federal Government was authorized to establish the FGAM and to participate as a quota holder up to a limit of BRL 2,000,000,000.00, for the purpose of providing guarantees to projects and activities related to the production of critical and strategic minerals. The FGAM may have other quota holders, whether individuals or legal entities, including public-law entities, and its assets may consist of quotas, voluntary contributions, capital contributions or donations of any kind, including from States, the Federal District, Municipalities, foreign countries, international organizations and multilateral organizations, among other mechanisms.

The Law sets forth important aspects of FGAM governance, as well as the powers of its governing bodies and the minimum contents of its bylaws. The fund may deploy its resources through instruments consistent with its purpose, including: (a) guarantees covering credit risk; and (b) risk mitigation instruments, such as hedging against price, liquidity or contractual performance risks.

Lastly, companies engaged in the exploration, mining, processing and mineral transformation of critical or strategic minerals in Brazil are required to invest annually a portion of the gross operating revenue derived from such activities, net of taxes levied thereon.

(ii) Federal Program for the Processing and Transformation of Critical and Strategic Minerals (“PFMCE”): the Federal Government was authorized to establish the PFMCE to create a source of funding to foster the processing, mineral transformation and urban mining of such minerals.
The Program must grant tax credits to companies incorporated under Brazilian law, with headquarters and management in Brazil, that incur expenditures on the processing, mineral transformation and urban mining of critical or strategic minerals within territory under Brazilian jurisdiction through December 31, 2034. From 2030 onward, BRL 1 billion in tax credits will be available each year.

The granting of the tax credit will be preceded by a competitive procedure to be defined by regulation. To qualify, companies or consortia of companies must produce products included in the list set forth in the Law, notably concentrates, battery-grade concentrates, concentrates of a grade suitable for the production of permanent magnets for electric motors, energy storage systems and other products to be defined by CIMCE.

(iii) Low-Carbon Mineral Certificate (“CMBC”): the Law created the CMBC, a document issued exclusively by an accredited certification company as a result of the process for certifying the greenhouse gas emissions intensity associated with the production of the minerals covered by the Law. At a minimum, it must include the mineral origin and the location of production. Certification is voluntary and is available to companies engaged in the exploration, mining, processing, mineral transformation and urban mining of critical and strategic minerals, with the aim of promoting and enhancing the value of mineral production with lower carbon intensity.

(iv) National Registry of Critical and Strategic Mineral Projects (“CNPMCE”): the registry is intended to provide for the mandatory registration of critical and strategic mineral projects implemented in Brazil, pursuant to regulation. The CNPMCE will consolidate, in a database, information submitted by the competent federal, state, municipal and Federal District authorities regarding such projects. The CNPMCE will include, for example, projects whose final exploration report identifies the presence of critical and strategic minerals in the mineral deposit.

(v) Tax, financial, credit and regulatory incentives: the Law authorized the use of such mechanisms to foster the production, processing and mineral transformation of critical and strategic minerals. In the area of tax and financial incentives, particular emphasis is placed on the possibility for corporations to issue publicly distributed debentures to raise funds for the implementation of investment projects deemed priorities in accordance with regulations to be issued by the Federal Executive Branch, relating to: (a) the processing, transformation and urban mining of critical and strategic minerals; and (b) prospecting, exploration and evaluation of deposits of such minerals, mining or mine development, when linked to an investment project.

Projects involving the processing, mineral transformation or urban mining of the following are deemed priorities: (a) concentrates; (b) battery-grade ores; (c) ores with a concentration grade suitable for the production of permanent magnets for electric motors; and (d) phosphate, potash and nitrogen fertilizers.

(vi) Other mechanisms: the Law also provides for other incentive instruments, such as: (a) auctions of areas with potential for the production of critical and strategic minerals; (b) research and technological development projects involving critical and strategic minerals; (c) streaming agreements and private mining royalties; and (d) the National Network for Research, Technological Development and Professional Training in Critical and Strategic Minerals.

The Traceability System

The Law created the Traceability System, designed to trace the production chain of critical and strategic minerals in order to ensure lawful origin, environmental and social, tax and regulatory compliance, and the integrity of information throughout all stages of the production chain.

Accordingly, the System must cover: (a) material composition, including the quantity and origin of the minerals; (b) the environmental impact associated with primary extraction, production and distribution of the products; (c) product durability, repairability, reusability, remanufacturability and recyclability requirements; (d) circularity data, such as reverse logistics, final destinations and incorporated recycled content; (e) the environmental license number; (f) the mineral rights grant ordinance; (g) the numbers of the environmental licensing and mineral rights grant proceedings; (h) information concerning the legal representative; and (i) the mineral extraction deposit.

The traceability system for critical and strategic minerals must provide for the mandatory registration of all transactions and participants involved in the production chain, as well as the auditability of the information. Regulations will establish transparency mechanisms and interoperability with international standards, subject to data protection, business secrecy and information security rules.

Final considerations

The new legal framework represents a paradigm shift for Brazilian mining, particularly with respect to the critical and strategic minerals chain in Brazil. Alongside concrete incentive instruments such as guarantees, tax credits, tax-incentivized debentures, area auctions and low-carbon certification, the Law and the Decree establish governance centralized in CIMCE, with the participation of the ANM, and introduce screening mechanisms for corporate transactions, contracts and the circulation of geological information itself.

Although the Law is already in force, some of its practical effects depend on measures that have yet to be issued. In particular, the Law left numerous matters to be addressed by regulations or other regulatory mechanisms, including: (a) the preparation of the National Plan on Critical and Strategic Minerals by CIMCE; (b) the establishment and bylaws of the FGAM; (c) the definition of the competitive procedure for access to PFMCE credits; (d) the regulations governing the issuance of the CMBC and the CNPMCE; among others.

Our teams are closely monitoring the implementation of the PNMCE and remain available to discuss the impacts of the new legal framework on specific projects, transactions and investment structures, as well as to support participation in public consultations and engagement with the competent authorities.

This material is for informational purposes only. Our Mining team closely monitors sector trends and developments and is available to provide further information on these and other topics.