By Brazil Stock Guide – Brazil’s Energy and Mines Minister Alexandre Silveira said the country will launch the National Council of Mineral Policy (CNPM) in October, a move he described as the start of a “new cycle” for the mining sector, according to Agência iNFRA.
Speaking at the Liquid Gas Week in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, Silveira emphasized that the council will, for the first time, establish binding sub-regulatory rules for mining. “It will be a historic date because, for the first time, we will have a guiding body for sub-legal rules in the mineral sector of the country,” he told reporters.
The minister acknowledged that mining has long received less attention compared with other areas overseen by the ministry, such as electricity, oil, gas and biofuels. “Brazil, due to the strength of the electric sector and oil, gas and biofuel, focused a lot on the policies of these two sectors. Now, we also want to dedicate our time to the national mineral policy,” Silveira said.
The CNPM will also reinforce the role of the National Mining Agency (ANM), whose image was hit last week after one of its directors was arrested in a Federal Police operation. “Institutions are above people. We who are in public life pass, institutions remain. That’s how I see the Brazilian State,” he said.
Silveira highlighted that the council will pay special attention to critical minerals, essential for the global energy transition and food security. “This will guide the mineral sector, strengthen the theme, at a time when the world debates critical minerals, especially those for the energy transition, as well as strategic minerals to guarantee food security,” he said.
He also reiterated that Brazil’s approach to critical mineral exploration will not repeat the “boom-and-bust” cycles seen in gold and iron ore.