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Image credits

The images on the blog are our own or come from collections with free licenses. Here are the author, license and source link for each one.

Deep-sea mining: what it is, where it stands, and why Brazil is watching closely

  • Cover: Black smoker hydrothermal vent on the ocean floor, with dark mineral-rich water pouring from a submarine chimney. Image: MARUM, University of Bremen · CC BY 4.0

Niobium: what it is, what it is used for and why Brazil dominates the world market

  • Cover: Two thin strips of shiny silver metal, one with a darkened tip, resting on a light surface. Image: Mauro Cateb · CC BY-SA 3.0
  • Araxá, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, seen by the ASTER sensor on the Terra satellite in November 2023. In false color, vegetation appears red; the city is at the top and the niobium mining area at the bottom.. Image: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems e equipe científica ASTER (EUA/Japão) · Public domain

Are rare earths radioactive? Myth versus fact

  • Cover: Strip of dark, almost black sand at the water's edge, with the foam of a wave on the left and lighter sand in the background. Image: Marcelo Moryan/MTur · Public domain
  • Monazite crystal from Iveland, Norway. It is the rare earth mineral with the most thorium.. Image: Aangelo · CC BY-SA 3.0

Law 15,506/2026: what changes with Brazil's new critical minerals policy

  • Cover: View of the National Congress in Brasília, with its two towers, its domes and the lawn of the Esplanade. Image: Roque de Sá/Agência Senado · CC BY 2.0

How much rare earth does Brazil have? Why the numbers change

  • Cover: Two wooden boxes with cylinders of dark rock taken by drilling, arranged in rows. Image: kallerna · CC BY-SA 4.0

The Caldeira Project in Poços de Caldas: what the Lynas takeover means

  • Cover: Elevated view of the city of Poços de Caldas, with buildings and houses in the valley and hills in the background. Image: Marcos Cardoso Jr · CC BY-SA 4.0

Environmental impacts of mining: what they are and how they can be reduced

  • Cover: Aerial view of a wildcat mining area in the forest, with a large patch of exposed pale sand surrounded by muddy water and vegetation. Image: Vinícius Mendonça/Ibama · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Río Tinto, in Spain: the orange color comes from iron dissolved in highly acidic water, the same kind of change caused by acid mine drainage. Photo taken in Spain.. Image: David Mata Verdejo · CC BY-SA 4.0

Environmental licensing of mining in Brazil: how it works, step by step

  • Cover: Iron mine pit seen from above, with gray and reddish rock walls, a curving dirt road and loading machines at the bottom. Image: Josue Marinho · CC BY 3.0
  • The three licenses of environmental licensing, with the deadlines and validity periods of Law 15,190/2025.. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration

Foreign capital in Brazilian rare earths: risks and opportunities

  • Cover: Stacks of colorful containers and cranes at the cargo terminal of the Port of Salvador, with houses and a church on the hilltop in the background. Image: Samory Pereira Santos · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • A few foreign companies account for a large share of the applications and of the most advanced projects. Data from Repórter Brasil and the Associated Press based on the ANM.. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration

How a mine works: from discovery to closure

  • Cover: Satellite image of an open-pit mine surrounded by pasture and vegetation, with the pit and the reservoir in shades of white and green. Image: Coordenação-Geral de Observação da Terra/INPE · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • The six stages of a mine, from discovery to closure.. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration
  • Drill cores: the rock cylinders removed by drilling show what lies below the surface. Photo taken in Finland.. Image: kallerna · CC BY-SA 4.0

How rare earths are separated: the hardest step in the chain

  • Cover: Aerial view of an open-pit mine in a desert region, with the pit in the foreground, processing plant buildings and tanks beside it and mountains in the background. Image: Tmy350 · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • The steps of the rare earth chain and, in detail, a bank of mixer-settlers.. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration
  • Lynas processing plant in Gebeng, near Kuantan (Malaysia), still under construction, in 2011.. Image: Ryan Albrey · CC BY 2.0

Ionic clay: the type of deposit that put Brazil on the rare earth map

  • Cover: Road cut with red soil at the top, a lighter middle band and dark fractured rock below, with trees in the background. Image: Werner Schellmann · CC BY-SA 2.5
  • Kaolinite samples from the Geisenheim kaolin mine, in Germany. This is the kind of clay the rare earths stick to.. Image: Marion Halft · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • How an ionic clay deposit forms.. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration

Lithium in the Jequitinhonha Valley: opportunities and problems

  • Cover: Dry landscape with pale, stony soil, yellowed grass, leafless trees and a rocky hill in the background, under a blue sky. Image: A. Duarte · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Main milestones of the Grota do Cirilo mine and of the court cases, according to the MPF, Agência Pública, Bloomberg Línea, Band and Diário do Comércio.. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration

Mine closure and land rehabilitation: what happens after mining

  • Cover: Open-pit mine filled by a large blue lake, with benched walls partly covered in vegetation and hills in the background. Image: Nonato III (foto recortada) · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Closure spans the entire life of the mine, according to ANM Resolution No. 68/2021.. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration

Mineral exploration: how a deposit is found

  • Cover: Truck-mounted drill rig in an open field at sunrise, with other support trucks and a sign reading "Rig 1" in the foreground. Image: ExplorationGeologist · CC BY 4.0
  • The technical and legal stages of mineral exploration in Brazil.. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration
  • Drill core of a rock called listwanite. Photo taken in Oman.. Image: Diorit · CC0

Mineral, ore and rock: what is the difference

  • Cover: Clear, colorless quartz crystal with flat faces and a few orange inclusions, on an acrylic stand against a black background. Image: James St. John · CC BY 2.0
  • Granite up close: each grain of a different color is a different mineral. Photo taken in North Carolina, United States.. Image: Scarlett016 · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Metamorphosed banded iron formation (jaspilite) from Minas Gerais, a relative of itabirite: folded bands of iron oxides alternating with bands of reddish silica (jasper).. Image: James St. John · CC BY 2.0

Mineral processing: how ore becomes a raw material

  • Cover: Close-up of a metallic gray froth made of bubbles of different sizes, loaded with fine mineral particles. Image: Geomartin · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • The path of ore through a processing plant, based on CETEM's typical flowchart.. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration

Minerals in construction: sand, crushed stone, limestone and more

  • Cover: Large conical piles of sand and gravel, elevated conveyor belts, silos and sheds at an aggregates mine, seen from a distance across a field. Image: Flocci Nivis · CC BY 4.0
  • The main construction minerals and what they become, based on CETEM and USGS.. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration
  • Small sand dredge on a river near Cidade Gaúcha, in northwestern Paraná, a state in southern Brazil, in 2013.. Image: Jarbas yurasseck, jr · CC BY-SA 3.0

The minerals in an electric car: from battery to motor

  • Cover: Open electric car battery pack, with an aluminum case and rows of white cells with metal terminals, connected by cables. Image: RudolfSimon · CC BY-SA 3.0
  • Minerals per vehicle in an electric car and in a conventional car, with IEA data (2021). Steel and aluminum are not included.. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration

The minerals that feed agriculture: potassium, phosphate and limestone

  • Cover: Flat field with rows of young plants stretching to the horizon under a cloudy sky. Image: Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil · CC BY 3.0 BR
  • Where each NPK nutrient comes from and how much of each Brazil imported in 2023, according to Infra S.A. with data from Anda.. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration
  • Sylvinite from the Solikamsk region, in Russia: the white and gray parts are halite, and the reddish ones are sylvite, the potassium mineral.. Image: James St. John · CC BY 2.0

What minerals are in your phone

  • Cover: Parts of a disassembled smartphone on graph paper: back cover, circuit board, battery, screen, cameras, vibration motor and flex cables. Image: Dmitry G · CC BY-SA 3.0
  • A spodumene sample, one of the main lithium minerals, about 7 cm across. It was collected near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States.. Image: Shannon Heinle · CC0
  • Cassiterite (tin oxide), the main tin ore, with quartz. Sample from the University of North Dakota collection, in the United States, of unknown origin.. Image: Shannon Heinle · CC0

Mining in everyday life: what comes from mines and is in your home

  • Cover: Parts of an old disassembled cell phone on a white background: pinkish metal casings, battery, screen, keypad, circuit board and small screws. Image: Medvedev · CC BY-SA 3.0
  • Granite quarry at the foot of Morro do Anhangava, in Paraná, a state in southern Brazil.. Image: YuriNikolai · CC BY-SA 4.0

Mining myths and facts: what is exaggerated and what is real

  • Cover: Satellite image of mining areas in Carajás, in the state of Pará, Brazil, surrounded by forest, with pits in shades of red and gray. Image: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems e equipe científica do ASTER · Public domain

Mining on Indigenous lands in Brazil: what Congress is debating

  • Cover: Aerial view of a large area of forest cleared by wildcat mining, with churned-up reddish soil, pools of muddy water and dirt roads, surrounded by forest. Image: Felipe Werneck/Ibama · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • From the 1988 Constitution to the STF decision of August 2026: the planned regulation was never passed.. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration

Neodymium magnets: what they are and why they're in electric cars and wind turbines

  • Cover: Dozens of small silver metal spheres, held together by magnetic force, forming a six-pointed star on a light surface. Image: Visitor7 · CC BY-SA 3.0
  • Assembly of a direct-drive wind turbine, without a gearbox, with a permanent magnet generator. Photo taken in the United States in 2012.. Image: Eileen at OE · CC BY-SA 4.0

Open-pit vs. underground mining: what are the differences

  • Cover: Very large and deep mining pit, with stepped walls of light-colored rock, curving roads going down and blue sky in the background. Image: Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • The two ways to reach the ore: through the pit, from the surface, or through shafts, ramps and drifts.. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration
  • Drift in an underground limestone mine worked by room and pillar. The plates on the roof are rock bolts, which hold the rock layers together. Photo taken in Ohio (US) in 2011.. Image: James St. John · CC BY 2.0

Rare earths in Brazil: where they are and what projects exist

  • Cover: Aerial view of a town with red-roofed houses and tree-lined streets, with hills and a large lake in the background. Image: EditorGoiano · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Main rare earth projects and exploration areas in Brazil, with their status as of October 2026.. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration

Serra Verde: how the rare earth mine in Goiás, Brazil, works

  • Cover: Two large trees under a blue sky, with palm trees and forest-covered hills in the background. Image: Bruna Letícia dos Santos (recorte) · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Mining and processing stages at the Pela Ema mine, according to the company's description.. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration

Tailings dams: what they are and why some are dangerous

  • Cover: Satellite image of the final stretch of the Doce River, with mud-colored water crossing green areas and forming a brown plume in the sea. Image: NASA Earth Observatory (Joshua Stevens), com dados do Landsat/USGS · Public domain
  • The three raising methods, in simplified cross-section.. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration

Urban mining: can recycling e-waste replace mines?

  • Cover: Pieces of shredded circuit boards, wires, capacitors and other electronic components, piled inside a transparent box. Image: Tony Webster · CC BY 2.0
  • What returns from e-waste to industry, worldwide, in 2022, according to the Global E-waste Monitor 2024.. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration

Critical and strategic minerals: what they are and why they became a priority

  • Cover: Sample of chalcopyrite, a copper ore, with golden and coppery crystals on a reddish cloth. Image: Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • The three groups of the strategic minerals list approved in 2021, based on the resolution published in Brazil's official gazette (Diário Oficial da União).. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration
  • Araxá, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, seen by the ASTER sensor on the Terra satellite in November 2023. In false color, vegetation appears red; the city is at the top and the niobium mining area at the bottom.. Image: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems e equipe científica ASTER (EUA/Japão) · Public domain

Rare earths: what they are, what they are used for and why Brazil matters

  • Cover: Six piles of rare earth oxide powders, in shades of white, beige, gray and black, on a sandy surface. Image: Peggy Greb (USDA/ARS) · Public domain
  • The 17 rare earth elements. The number in the corner of each box is the atomic number.. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration
  • Monazite crystals, one of the minerals that contain rare earths, on display at the Mineralogical Museum in Bonn, Germany.. Image: Ra'ike · CC BY-SA 3.0
  • Neodymium magnet on the bracket of a computer hard drive (HDD).. Image: Bloodshedder (English Wikipedia) · Public domain

What does a mining engineer do (and what the job is like)

  • Cover: Large off-highway haul truck, with its bed full of ore, driving through a mine. Image: Greg Goebel · CC BY-SA 2.0

Lithium: what it is, what it is used for and where Brazil produces it

  • Cover: Aerial view of a set of rectangular ponds in the desert, with water in shades of turquoise, dark blue and salt white. Image: Doc Searls · CC BY 2.0
  • Lepidolite, a lithium-bearing mica, from Virgem da Lapa, in the Jequitinhonha Valley (Minas Gerais, Brazil).. Image: Lech Darski · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Estimated end uses of the lithium consumed worldwide, according to the USGS.. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration

Why China dominates rare earths (and what other countries are doing)

  • Cover: False-color satellite image of an arid region, with large dark mining pits, elongated tailings ponds and a town in the center. Image: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS e equipe científica ASTER (EUA/Japão) · Public domain
  • China's share in each stage of the rare earth chain, with data from the USGS and the IEA.. Image: MineraMente · Original illustration

Why is everyone talking about rare earths? The issue that entered Brazilian politics

  • Cover: Aerial view of the Esplanada dos Ministérios in Brasília, with ministry buildings on both sides and the National Congress in the background. Image: Cayambe · CC BY-SA 3.0