Brazil's Mines and Energy Minister, Alexandre Silveira, said on Monday (24) that the government expects the Senate to approve the critical minerals bill next week. He spoke at Exposibram, a mining industry congress in Belo Horizonte, in the state of Minas Gerais, according to Folha de S.Paulo.

The government's strategy is for the Senate to pass the text exactly as it left the Chamber of Deputies, Brazil's lower house, so the bill does not have to return there for a new vote. "Naturally we are waiting, I as Brazil's mines minister, anxiously for it to be approved. I believe the bill is very well suited to the national interest," Silveira said.

What the bill does

According to Folha, the text approved by the lower house expands the executive branch's powers to regulate the sector and creates a national policy for critical minerals aimed at defending national sovereignty, encouraging ore refining inside Brazil, so the country does not remain a mere commodity exporter, and supporting the energy transition. The bill also creates the National Council for the Industrialization of Critical Minerals, a government body that could approve or block international contracts, agreements or partnerships "under conditions that may affect the country's economic or geopolitical security."

The proposal cleared the Chamber in early June but stalled in the Senate before the July parliamentary recess, amid tension between Senate president Davi Alcolumbre and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, CNN Brasil reported. At the time the bill still had no appointed rapporteur, even though the Planalto, Brazil's presidential palace, treated it as one of its priorities for the semester.

Silveira said Lula has called a meeting for Thursday (27) with him, Chief of Staff Minister Miriam Belchior and the Planning and Finance ministers to discuss the bill's next steps. "From there, we will unfold it into decrees, into policies that can promote the country's growth," he said, arguing that Brazil should seize a "window of opportunity" to decide how to use its natural resources. At the same event, the minister defended expanding strategic mineral projects, especially rare earths: "Brazil with rare earths will be an opportunity to reindustrialize the country, to strengthen jobs, income and inclusion," he said, according to local outlet Rede 98. Brazil, he added, is living a "minerals paradise" moment.

Industry concerns

Despite the government's optimism, the proposal divides opinion. According to CNN Brasil, the mining industry recognizes the need for a national policy for the sector but is wary of provisions that expand state intervention, such as domestic processing requirements, conditions on exports and the future council's power to veto operations considered contrary to national interests. Mining companies argue the criteria for such vetoes should be defined objectively in the bill itself rather than left to later regulation, citing legal uncertainty at a time of global competition for rare earths, lithium, graphite and nickel, inputs seen as essential for the energy transition and the defense industry.