The National Mining Agency (ANM) recently released the study “Legal Amazon: Critical and Strategic Minerals – Sectoral Diagnosis", highlighting the region’s vast geological potential. While the area is currently a major hub for iron, bauxite, copper, and gold extraction, the report shows that other critical minerals such as cobalt, rare earths, and potash still remain largely untapped.
This report compiles key indicators, analyses, and trends regarding the mining of critical and strategic minerals in the region. It consolidates data on exploration and mining investments, royalty collections, and foreign trade, while outlining the primary projects currently underway.
The research provides an overview of mining rights and production in what is known as the Amazônia Legal (Legal Amazon). Defined by Complementary Law No. 124 of 2007, the Legal Amazon is a geoeconomic and socio-environmental zone encompassing nine Brazilian states. This designation was created to guide regional planning and development, as well as to safeguard the region’s vast geological, biological, and cultural diversity through specific legislation. Ultimately, the report's scope extends beyond the actual forest canopy to encompass the entire administrative territory tied to the Amazon basin.
While this area accounts for approximately 59% of the national territory, it houses only 14% of the country’s population and generates just 7% of the national GDP, remaining vastly underdeveloped compared to the rest of the country.
Despite this, the Legal Amazon holds significant promise for resources like gold, nickel, iron, potash, graphite, copper, and manganese. Global demand for these commodities has grown exponentially, driven by the energy transition, the digitalization of the economy, and emerging technological applications such as electric vehicles (EVs) and large language models (LLMs). This surging demand has presents opportunities for regional development, infrastructure investment, and economic growth.
Published in July 2026 and authored by the Superintendence of Mineral Economy and Geoinformation (SEG), the study elevates the debate surrounding the creation of a National Policy for Critical and Strategic Minerals in Brazil.
Speaking to Brasil Mineral, leadership from ANM and SEG commented on the findings.
“The Legal Amazon is of vital strategic importance to the mining sector. This document leverages the agency’s technical expertise to advance discussions aimed at building a robust national policy, one capable of attracting investments and ensuring Brazil’s development while respecting the region’s unique challenges,” noted ANM General Director Mauro Sousa.
For Inara Barbosa, Superintendent of SEG, the goal is to provide a solid technical, territorial, and economic foundation to guide decision-making regarding these strategic assets.
“The diagnosis demonstrates that the Legal Amazon occupies a highly relevant and strategic position in Brazil’s broader mineral development,” she pointed out.
João Vasconcelos, Mineral Economy Manager at ANM, highlighted the importance of data-driven policymaking:
“A public policy for critical and strategic minerals is only robust when based on evidence, not intuition. This data allows the federal government, states, and the private sector to design targeted, efficient credit, regulatory, and infrastructure policies, rather than relying on generic measures. It helps us pinpoint exactly where the bottlenecks and opportunities lie.”
Mining Claims Remain Concentrated in the Southern Amazon
Among the report’s key findings is that the Legal Amazon accounts for 48.2% of all active mining claims for critical and strategic minerals in Brazil. The most heavily concentrated states are Pará, holding 51% of the region’s claims, followed by Mato Grosso (19.0%) and Rondônia (10.3%).
When looking specifically at exploration permits, gold is the predominant target, present in 67% of the Legal Amazon’s claims with nearly 26,000 applications. It is followed by tin (10% or 3,800 applications) and copper (7.3% or 2,800 applications).
R&D Data Highlights Underinvestment in Critical Resources
Investments in mineral exploration research totaled R$ 4.9 billion between 2003 and 2024. Despite this significant volume of capital, 91% of the investment was focused on research for gold, copper, iron, and aluminum. The two primary targets alone concentrated nearly 85% of all funding, with 66% directed toward gold and 19% toward copper. The document highlights a stark lack of research investment for other minerals critical to the energy transition and national development, such as potash, rare earths, lithium, titanium, and silicon.
“Reversing this requires heavier investment in mineral exploration, specifically aimed at expanding the country’s geological mapping to truly understand the region’s potential. It also involves fast-tracking structural projects already on the radar (such as Autazes, Araguaia, and Vermelho), providing greater regulatory certainty to attract long-term capital, and forming public-private partnerships in R&D to add value to downstream supply chains,” argued João Vasconcelos, Mineral Economy Manager at ANM.
A closer look at exploration budgets from 2003 to 2024 reveals a significant concentration of capital in traditional mining. While there has been a recent spike in overall research investment, critical and strategic minerals (such as rare earths, nickel, cobalt, copper, lithium, and phosphate) received just 27% of total funding over the two-decade span. In contrast, traditional export-oriented commodities (like gold, iron, and bauxite) absorbed the remaining 73% of exploration capital during the same period.
Strategic Mining Districts and Untapped Opportunities
The report underscores the heavy concentration of mining activity in the state of Pará. The Carajás Mineral Province alone houses a massive portion of the region’s active infrastructure and output.
The Carajás complex is the largest mining district in Brazil also beeing one of the most significant globally yielding iron, copper, manganese, nickel, platinum group elements, and gold. The state is also home to Porto Trombetas, a major aluminum (bauxite) hub, as well as the Tapajós region, which contains extensive reserves of various minerals and precious stones such as gold, cassiterite, tin, and diamonds.
Another region of immense strategic importance is Autazes in Amazonas State, which holds one of the only economically viable potash deposits in Brazil. Potash is a crucial fertilizer for the agricultural sector. Current national production sits at approximately 400,000 tons per year, while Brazil’s domestic consumption between 2020 and 2024 reached roughly 13.14 million tons, highlighting the mineral’s critical importance to the country’s agribusiness industry.
Consequently, the “Autazes Project” by Potássio do Brasil Ltda. a subsidiary of Brazil Potash Corp. (NYSE-A: GRO) is viewed as a vital lever to reduce this 97% reliance on international imports. The project targets an annual production of 2.4 million tons, enough to cover 17% of Brazilian demand, with an estimated mine life of 23 years.
Other regions harboring untapped opportunities include Rondônia, boasting high geological potential for zinc, lead, copper, and gold, along with new occurrences of manganese, phosphorus, and limestone in the Nova Brasilândia Belt. The Southeast Rondônia project, which currently produces gold, nickel, and construction aggregates, is already showing promising traces of chromium, cobalt, and manganese.
Roraima also presents exciting potential for rare earth elements. Deposits of thorium and rare earths associated with the Apiaú Suite in the central part of the state, within the Amazon Craton, are viewed as highly strategic.
See Also: USA Rare Earth Acquires Largest Rare Earth Mine in Brazil for $2.8B
In total, the report highlights 17 zones with active or potential mining operations in the Brazilian Legal Amazon. These range from established commodities like iron, bauxite, copper, and gold, to highly valued critical minerals thrust into the spotlight by current international trade disruptions and energy transition, such as tin, tantalum, zinc, niobium, nickel, titanomagnetite, thorium, and other rare earths.
The Economic Footprint: Production Value and Royalties
The study also quantifies the current economic footprint of the mining sector in the Legal Amazon. In 2024, the total commercial value of the region’s mineral production reached R$ 106 billion (approximately US$ 21 billion).
Iron ore dominates the ledger with a production value of R$ 72.5 billion, accounting for 46.6% of the region’s total mining revenue. It remains the area’s flagship asset, reflecting Pará’s dominance as an iron ore exporter.
Following iron, the region’s highest-grossing minerals are:
- Copper: Reaching R$ 17.4 billion (representing a 76.2% share of national output).
- Gold: Maintaining a significant footprint with R$ 7.7 billion (a 30.0% share).
- Aluminum (Bauxite): Generating a production value of R$ 5.3 billion.
The Economic Impact of Mining Royalties
In 2024, Brazil collected R$ 6.71 billion in mining royalties (CFEM) strictly from critical and strategic minerals. The Legal Amazon was responsible for generating roughly R$ 3.17 billion of this total (47.3%).
When measured against the combined GDP of the nine states that make up the Legal Amazon, this royalty revenue represents roughly 3% of their total economic output. This influx of capital acts as a vital economic engine, providing critical funding for the local municipalities directly impacted by mining operations.
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