Earlier this month, China announced new export restrictions on rare earths — critical minerals that are used in semiconductors, smartphones, electric vehicles, and more. The new curbs sparked a race by the U.S. to secure supplies from other countries to avoid disruptions to a wide range of industries.
China produces about 70% of the world’s rare earths — a set of 17 metallic elements — and processes nearly 90% of the minerals. The U.S. has signed deals with Australia and several Southeast Asian countries to minimize disruptions as it negotiates a deal with China to ease the restrictions.
Brazil is also being touted as an alternative, as the country has the second-largest reserves of rare earths in the world. The country’s extraction and refining industry, however, remain underdeveloped — a critical challenge.
“When we talk about reserves, it’s important to remember that we’re not just talking about what is in the ground,” Julie Michelle Klinger, an associate professor of geography and spatial sciences at the University of Delaware, told Rest of World. “What we’re actually talking about is what’s economically and politically feasible to mine. That depends as much on investment, technology, and regulation as it does on geology.”
Does Brazil have what it takes to be an alternative to China in the supply of rare earths? We spoke to experts to find out. The responses have been edited for brevity.
Where are the world’s rare earth minerals? Who supplies the U.S.?
China has about half the global reserves of rare earth minerals, and Brazil has nearly a quarter, according to U.S. data. Australia, Russia, India, and Vietnam also have sizable reserves. Some of Brazil’s reserves are located in ionic clay deposits, which are easier, cheaper, and less environmentally damaging to mine than hard-rock deposits. They also have a higher concentration of rare earths.
The U.S. imports about 80% of its rare earths requirement from China, Malaysia, and other countries, the data showed.
80% The share of rare earth requirement that the U.S imports.
What is the impact of China’s rare earth curbs on Latin America?
Raul Jungmann, president of the Brazilian Mining Institute, a nonprofit industry body.
For Brazil, as well as for countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Mexico, which have large reserves of these minerals, challenges related to exploration, production, and commercialization may present a great opportunity, especially for promoting new research, stimulating industrialization, and verticalizing the production chain. This could increase these countries’ influence and bargaining power on the international stage.
In the case of Brazil, we have the potential to respond to the growing interest of other nations in these products with measures such as the implementation of a comprehensive policy on mining — from industrialization to logistics — as well as combating bottlenecks in the expansion of mining, such as limited geological knowledge and low financing. We also need partnerships with other countries for investment, and transfer of technology and knowledge to optimize production in Brazil.
It is also necessary to expedite the approval of the national policy on critical and strategic minerals that aims to develop sustainable mining, and provide tax breaks and other incentives to prioritize domestic value addition over raw material export.
What challenges does Brazil face in the extraction and refining of rare earths?
Francisco Valdir Silveira, director of geology and mineral resources at the Geological Survey of Brazil, a public-private partnership.
In the 1990s, Brazil was one of the most developed countries in the rare earths chain. The big challenge today is not a lack of ore, it is not a lack of raw materials — it is a lack of embedded technology. We do have the capacity to greatly increase the exploitation of reserves if there is investment in research. We need to bring in factories, jobs, universities, technology centers, and well-trained people.
From an environmental point of view, Brazilian legislation is one of the strictest on the planet. There are many restrictions and many controls at various levels — municipal, state, and federal. The challenge is to produce enough, put enough on the market to balance prices, and have good, reliable partners.
There’s a real opportunity here to link rare earth development with broader national development goals.”
Can Latin America establish itself as an alternative source for rare earths to the U.S.?
Julie Michelle Klinger, associate professor in the department of geography and spatial sciences at the University of Delaware.
Latin America can absolutely play a key role in global critical mineral supply chains, but it should do so on its own terms, building on reinvesting in research, refining, and recycling capacity, and by insisting that value be added locally. That means building partnerships focused on technological cooperation, not just raw material extraction. For communities asked to host mining projects, as well as for the workers within any mining operations, they should have some sense about where the material they are producing will end up: if they are producing for technologies that make the world better, or for technologies of mass destruction, or for non-essential uses like cheap toys.
There’s a real opportunity here to link rare earth development with broader national development goals — renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, and scientific innovation — rather than chasing another commodity boom. Latin American countries have tremendous leverage if they coordinate regionally. Together, they can help reset global norms around environmental standards, Indigenous rights, and the fair distribution of benefits
It’s time to move beyond the idea of Latin America as an “alternative supplier” to a different major consuming economy, because the region’s role and potential is greater than simply filling a gap in someone else’s supply chain. While it is important to diversify production and supplies globally, I think there’s a real need for responsible political leadership in diversifying and stabilizing global rare earth supply chains.
