Brazil delays critical minerals areas auction

[Ben Graham]

Brazil has postponed a long-awaited auction of mineral exploration areas rich in critical minerals after its mining regulator said it lacks the resources to move forward.

The National Mining Agency (ANM) had planned to approve the tender rules in December, with the auction scheduled for March 2026, but has now suspended the process indefinitely. 

Speaking during a board meeting, ANM director José Fernando Gomes Júnior said the agency could not proceed because the auction involves several embedded costs and would only resume once its financial situation improves.

The delay comes as Brazil works to position itself as a major supplier of minerals critical to the global energy transition. The country holds about 94% of the world’s niobium reserves, 22% of global graphite reserves, 16% of nickel reserves and 17% of rare earth elements. Lithium, a key input for modern batteries, is also abundant, with companies expanding production capacity.

Brazil was once among the world’s leading rare earth producers, with output reaching 2,200 tonnes of rare-earth oxide in 2016, but production has since collapsed to about 20 metric tons in 2024. Industry analysts attribute the decline largely to China’s dominant production capacity and pricing power.

Broader reform affected

Beyond its mineral potential, the suspended auction had drawn attention as a milestone in efforts to modernize Brazil’s mining sector. It was set to be the first mining auction organized through a partnership between ANM and B3, the São Paulo stock exchange operator, adopting a bidding model already used in infrastructure, power, and oil and gas.

Adriano Drummond Trindade, a Brazilian lawyer specializing in mining law, said the deferral represents a setback for the sector. He noted that about 100,000 areas are currently pending auction by the mining agency, calling it contradictory for the government to present Brazil as a hub for critical minerals investment while failing to provide ANM with the resources needed to function properly.

Earlier this year, ANM hired B3 to provide specialized technical services for mining bidding processes, following a series of successful auctions in other sectors. Until now, mining auctions had been conducted by the Geological Survey of Brazil and ANM itself, processes often criticized as slow and prone to technical problems because of staff shortages under federal fiscal constraints.