Critical Minerals Council: how Brazil's new regulatory body works
What is CIMCE, the council regulating critical and strategic minerals in Brazil, how it is structured and why the sector is watching closely.
All articles
Every article on the blog: in-depth guides and mining news explained with context.
List of articles
Deep-sea mining: what it is, where it stands, and why Brazil is watching closely
What deep-sea mining is, which minerals lie on the ocean floor, where Brazil is researching, and why the topic divides scientists, governments, and companies.
Niobium: what it is, what it is used for and why Brazil dominates the world market
Niobium: learn what this metal is, why it makes steel stronger, what it is used for and how Brazil came to own almost all of world production.
Are rare earths radioactive? Myth versus fact
Rare earths are not radioactive, but their ore often carries thorium and uranium. Where the risk comes from, how Brazil regulates it and what is exaggerated.
Law 15,506/2026: what changes with Brazil's new critical minerals policy
What Brazil's Law 15,506/2026, which created the National Policy on Critical and Strategic Minerals, provides: why it matters, pros, cons and what's next.
How much rare earth does Brazil have? Why the numbers change
Brazil has the second-largest rare earth reserves, but the figure fell from 21 to about 11 million metric tons. Here is what the revision means.
The Caldeira Project in Poços de Caldas: what the Lynas takeover means
Australia's Lynas agreed to buy Meteoric, owner of the Caldeira rare earth project in Poços de Caldas, Brazil. The deal and what is still pending.
Environmental impacts of mining: what they are and how they can be reduced
Water, soil, air, noise, wildlife and communities: the main environmental impacts of mining, how they differ from illegal wildcat mining and how to reduce them.
Environmental licensing of mining in Brazil: how it works, step by step
Environmental licensing of mining in Brazil: LP, LI and LO, EIA/Rima, public hearings, who issues licenses, deadlines and what changed with Law 15,190/2025.
Foreign capital in Brazilian rare earths: risks and opportunities
Foreign firms hold 42% of rare earth exploration applications in Brazil and most of the advanced projects. See who they are and what the new law says.
How a mine works: from discovery to closure
How a mine works in Brazil, step by step: mineral exploration, permits, open-pit or underground mining, mineral processing and closure.
How rare earths are separated: the hardest step in the chain
Understand rare earth separation: why nearly identical elements are so hard to split, how solvent extraction works and who dominates this step.
Ionic clay: the type of deposit that put Brazil on the rare earth map
What an ionic clay rare earth deposit is, how it forms, why it draws interest and what its impacts are, with examples from China, Goiás and Minas Gerais.
Lithium in the Jequitinhonha Valley: opportunities and problems
Lithium in Brazil's Jequitinhonha Valley: investment, GDP and royalties on one side; dust, cracked houses, water and quilombola consultation on the other.
Mine closure and land rehabilitation: what happens after mining
How land degraded by mining is rehabilitated: closure plan, stability, revegetation, monitoring, future land use and abandoned mines in Brazil.
Mineral exploration: how a deposit is found
Mineral exploration explained: from geological maps to drilling, resource vs. reserve, the legal steps at Brazil's ANM and why it takes years and costs a lot.
Mineral, ore and rock: what is the difference
The difference between mineral, rock and ore, with examples from Brazil, cutoff grade, gangue, waste rock, tailings and common exam traps.
Mineral processing: how ore becomes a raw material
Mineral processing step by step: crushing, grinding, classification, concentration, dewatering, grade and recovery, tailings, water and energy.
Minerals in construction: sand, crushed stone, limestone and more
Sand, crushed stone, limestone, gypsum, clay, stone and iron: the minerals used in construction, how much is used, how it is licensed and the impacts.
The minerals in an electric car: from battery to motor
Lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, copper, rare earths and aluminum: which minerals go into an electric car, where they are and in what amounts.
The minerals that feed agriculture: potassium, phosphate and limestone
Which minerals are in fertilizers, where potassium, phosphate and agricultural lime come from, and why Brazil imports over 90% of its fertilizer.
What minerals are in your phone
Lithium, cobalt, tin, tantalum, indium, copper, gold and rare earths: which minerals are in your phone, where they sit in the device and where they come from.
Mining in everyday life: what comes from mines and is in your home
From the cement in your walls to the phone in your pocket: which minerals are in your home, kitchen, car and food, with data and sources.
Mining myths and facts: what is exaggerated and what is real
Are mining and garimpo the same thing? Does every mine end up as an abandoned hole? What changed after Brumadinho? Myths and facts, with sources.
Mining on Indigenous lands in Brazil: what Congress is debating
Brazil's Supreme Court gave Congress 24 months to regulate mining on Indigenous lands. See the bills under review, each side's arguments and what to watch.
Neodymium magnets: what they are and why they're in electric cars and wind turbines
What the neodymium-iron-boron magnet is, who invented it, why it's so strong, where it's used, why it has dysprosium and terbium, and why China leads.
Open-pit vs. underground mining: what are the differences
How engineers choose between open-pit and underground mines, what benches and drifts are, the main mining methods and when a pit turns into a tunnel.
Rare earths in Brazil: where they are and what projects exist
Rare earths in Brazil in 2026, mapped and explained: the Goiás mine, the Minas Gerais and Bahia projects, the deposit types and the stage of each one.
Serra Verde: how the rare earth mine in Goiás, Brazil, works
How Serra Verde's Pela Ema mine in Minaçu, Brazil, works: ionic clay, mining, concentrate, output, the sale to USA Rare Earth and licensing.
Tailings dams: what they are and why some are dangerous
What a tailings dam is, how it is built, why the upstream method is the riskiest, and what changed in Brazil's rules after Mariana and Brumadinho.
Urban mining: can recycling e-waste replace mines?
Urban mining recovers metals from discarded electronics and batteries. See how much it supplies, where it works and why it can't replace mines yet.
Critical and strategic minerals: what they are and why they became a priority
What critical and strategic minerals are under Brazil's Law 15,506/2026, who sets the list, how the US and EU do it, and why demand is growing.
Rare earths: what they are, what they are used for and why Brazil matters
What rare earths are, where they show up in your daily life, why China dominates the sector and the role of Brazil, with the world's second-largest reserves.
What does a mining engineer do (and what the job is like)
What a mining engineer does: areas of work, legal duties in Brazil, where they work and what it takes to practice the profession.
Lithium: what it is, what it is used for and where Brazil produces it
What is lithium used for? Learn what this metal is, where it comes from, how much goes into batteries and how Brazil produces spodumene in Minas Gerais.
Why China dominates rare earths (and what other countries are doing)
How China came to control rare earth mining, refining and magnets, when it used that power, and what the US, Australia, Japan and Europe are doing.
Why is everyone talking about rare earths? The issue that entered Brazilian politics
A mine sold to a US company, talks with the United States, a new law and an election: why rare earths became a political issue in Brazil.