The creation of the National Critical and Strategic Minerals Policy (PNMCE) gained a new chapter on Tuesday (14/7), with the presentation of a replacement in the Senate's Infrastructure Committee (CI), highlights the axes. Meanwhile, the text approved by the Chamber of Deputies at the beginning of May remains on hold, awaiting analysis by senators. And the federal government is trying to expand state participation in the sector, via BNDES and Petrobras.
Text in the Senate creates new dispute over critical minerals framework
The creation of the National Critical and Strategic Minerals Policy (PNMCE) gained a new chapter on Tuesday (14/7), with the presentation of a replacement in the Senate's Infrastructure Committee (CI), highlights the...
The CI scheduled for a final vote the opinion of Senator Wilder Morais (PL/GO) on Bill No. 4,443/2025, authored by Senator Renan Calheiros (MDB/AL), an alternative proposal to the Chamber's text. But, independently, Morais incorporated parts of the project approved by deputies into his replacement and adapted other sections to the interests of the mineral sector.
The main difference between the two projects is that the PL senator reduced the power of the National Council for the Industrialization of Critical and Strategic Minerals, highlights CNN Brasil. The opinion removed the collegiate's responsibility for approving corporate transactions in critical mineral projects, leaving it only responsible for recording and monitoring these transactions. That's what the mining companies wanted.
The federal government does not give up on the advice, according to the text approved in the Chamber, according to NeoFeed. In the Executive's assessment, the board is an instrument for controlling the access of foreign companies to the sector. And its creation was an alternative to “TerraBras”, a state-owned company that would be created to control the exploration, production and processing of critical minerals.
The government's position was reinforced by President Lula at the beginning of the week. "Whoever wants to explore critical minerals and rare earths will have to do it here in this country, because we will no longer be an exporter of raw materials. We want to carry out the transformation process here", he stated, during a visit to the Institute of Aeronautics and Space, in São José dos Campos (SP).
The government is still evaluating ways to expand state participation in mining activities. In a meeting last Friday (10/7), at Palácio do Planalto, the president and his assistants discussed activating BNDESPAR and Petrobras for the initiative, in addition to creating lines of credit for prospecting research, Folha details.
According to participants at the meeting, Lula is excited about the possibility of exploring these minerals, processing them in the country and creating a national rare earth exploration industry. The scenario was compared to the pre-salt discovery period, in 2006, during the PT member's first term. It is no coincidence that the federal strategy directly involves Petrobras.
Source: ClimaInfo
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