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Geopolitics of Critical Minerals
Brazil's Senate has approved a new National Critical Minerals Policy designed to align the country with Western powers and attract capital. Experts welcome the new financing mechanisms but warn of the creation of a state council with broad powers that could generate legal uncertainty for foreign investments, including those from Spain.
El Senado de Brasil Argentina passed a law on Wednesday establishing the National Policy for Critical and Strategic Minerals, a legislative move that seeks to position the South American giant at the center of global supply chains and attract productive investment in a sector dominated by geopolitical competition. The initiative, which now awaits presidential approval, has been praised by the mining sector for its potential to modernize project financing, although it has raised serious concerns among legal experts due to the introduction of a new level of state control.
The new legislation is framed within a global context where major economies are reviewing their regulatory frameworks to ensure access to raw materials essential for the energy transition and the technology industry. Pablo Cesário, Chairman of the Instituto Brasileiro de Mineração (Ibram), stated that the project "reflects the international scenario" and aligns Brasil with the policies implemented in Estados Unidos under the administration Trump, Canadá, Australia and Unión EuropeaFor Spanish companies in the automotive, renewable energy and defense sectors, this regulatory harmonization could simplify and secure future supply chains from a key strategic partner.
New mechanisms to attract international capital
The main advance of the law lies in the creation of a robust financial architecture to mitigate risk in a sector that requires intensive long-term capital. The regulation introduces the Fundo Garantidor da Atividade Mineralan instrument that Cesário It describes it as a "structural revolution," especially for pre-operational projects that traditionally struggle to secure funding.
Furthermore, the law provides legal certainty to financial entities already established in markets such as Canadá o Australia. João Raso, a lawyer specializing in the Mining area of BMA AdvogadosIt highlights that for the first time, the registration of contracts is permitted streaming and private mining royalties in the Agência Nacional de Mineração (ANM), which allows these agreements to serve as collateral in credit transactions. "It opens up for Brasil "A specialized capital market that has been financing Canadian and Australian projects for two decades, but which had been bypassed due to legal uncertainty," he noted. This measure could facilitate the entry of European investment funds and industrial capital, including Spanish capital, into extraction and processing projects in Brazil.
The uncertainty of state control
However, the most controversial point of the new legislation is the creation of the Conselho Nacional para Industrialização de Minerais Críticos e Estratégicos (CIMCEThis body, directly linked to the Presidency of the Republic, will have the power to approve key corporate and contractual operations, such as changes in shareholding control, long-term supply contracts and transfers of mining rights.
So much Filipe CunhaMining partner in Bichara Advogadosas the João RasoThey expressed their deep concern about the lack of specifics in the law. They warned that the criteria, deadlines, and limits for the council's decisions are not defined, introducing a new and unpredictable regulatory risk. "It makes no sense to create instruments to reduce the financial risk of projects and, at the same time, introduce a new regulatory risk regarding the operations needed to finance them," they argued. CunhaFor a Spanish company negotiating a merger, a a joint venture or a strategic supply contract, this could translate into months or even years of uncertainty, with the possibility that the board will review the commercial terms already agreed between the parties.
From the Ibram, Pablo Cesário He tried to dispel these fears, assuring that the regulatory process that will follow the president's enactment of the law will be carried out. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will define the scope of the council. "I don't see an interventionist approach in this project." Brasil "It remains open to productive investment," he concluded. Nevertheless, the international investment community will remain attentive to how this ambiguity is resolved, as it will be decisive in transforming the geological potential of Brasil in a safe and predictable investment destination.
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