Brazil promotion agency looks to attract international mining investment

Brazil’s export and investment promotion agency ApexBrasil signed a cooperation agreement with Brazilian mining association Ibram to attract international investors to the country’s mining sector.

“With this agreement, we're thinking about attracting international investments so that we can create a bold and intelligent plan for the extraction and processing of mineral wealth, with responsibility and sustainability," said Jorge Viana, the head of ApexBrasil, in a statement.

“Having ApexBrasil alongside Ibram is a guarantee that the mineral sector will be transformed into something far beyond what it currently represents for the Brazilian economy, as the agency is responsible for promoting the country's companies abroad and attracting international investments,” said Raul Jungmann, president of Ibram.

The new partnership aims to attract investments to minerals associated with the energy transition since Brazil is already a global power house in terms of iron ore production.

"Brazil has strategic reserves of critical minerals, which are essential for the energy transition and it is necessary to guarantee a balance between the economy and environmental preservation. Among the global reserves of critical minerals, Brazil accounts for around 94% of niobium, 16% of nickel, 9% of rare earths, 22% of graphite and 4.7% in the case of lithium reserves," said ApexBrasil.

Ibram also signed an accord with the Brazilian micro and small business support service (Sebrae) to improve labor force training.

Around 90% of Brazil’s mineral sector is made up of micro and small companies and the partnership with Ibram will help bolster the sector’s chain of production, said Décio Lima, president of Sebrae.