Brazil plans to double the share of mining in its economy

Brazil seeks to boost the share of mining in the national economy, focusing on private investment and smaller players.

"Currently, mining represents 2.4% of our GDP, and we want to double this to nearly 5% in the next five years through improvements in legal frameworks and in funding structures for companies, especially smaller companies," mines and energyminister Adolfo Sachsidasaid during mining congress Exposibram hosted by sector association Ibram.

Mining regulator ANM will be key. "We still need to improve some aspects in relation to the mineral sector, which is to align environmental legislation with mining legislation, since one goes hand in hand with the other and an alignment of both would make the licensing process faster," ANM chief Victor Bicca told BNamericas.

According to Bicca, ANM is also digitizing its procedures.

The government aims to diversify mineral production, still dominated by iron ore. 

"Brazil has natural potential for iron ore, but there is a lot of other potential to be explored, such as copper, nickel, lithium, among many others," added Bicca. 

Miners value recent advances in regulations, which foster investments and dampen the political risks related to the electoral process.

"Mining investment is a long-term plan, there are always adjustments to be made to improve regulations and infrastructure, but Brazil is on the right path and has very large geological diversity, with lots of potential for expansion and diversification," Rio Tintocountry manager Ana O'Farrill told BNamericas. 

"A very positive highlight that has been happening in Brazil is that the government is working on the selection of some priority mining projects to analyze environmental permits. This helps in the rapid advancement of projects, as is the case with a joint venture of ours, Mineração Rio do Norte," she added. 

In recent years, the government has supported mining projects in the environmental licensing process it deemed crucial for the diversification and expansion drive.

Earlier this year, the government selected Mineração Rio do Norte’s (MRN) Novas Minas bauxite exploration project. Rio Tinto holds a minority stake in MRN, which operates Brazil's largest bauxite mine, an open-pit operation in Porto Trombetas, Pará state.