The United States Is Ready To Participate in The Brazilian Rare Earth Market

São Paulo, June 10th (Argus) - A member of a group familiar with the operations of the White House said at a market event in Brasília, the capital of Brazil, yesterday that the United States wants to work at a "distorted pace" to ensure access to Brazil's rare earths and other key minerals.
Christopher Garman, the managing director of Eurasia Group Americas, said at a key minerals seminar held at the Brazilian Mining Institute Ibram that the United States is "prepared" to deepen its partnership with Brazil, especially in the field of rare earth elements.
According to this group member, the White House has identified Brazil and Malaysia as potential partners for rare earths, as their reserves are mainly in ionized mineral resources, which are easier to process than other deposits.
Garman said that the United States chose Brazil, including the $2.8 billion acquisition of Brazilian heavy rare earth producer Serra Verde, and then financing $560 million for Serra Verde and the upcoming producer Aclara Resources.
Garman said: "The United States will continue to view Brazil pragmatically because of the value of its mineral assets." He added that the United States' recent re-imposition of tariffs on Brazil and its failure to classify local organized crime groups as terrorists do not indicate a change in Trump's stance towards Brazil. "They are parallel decisions that have been studied for a long time."
Former Brazilian ambassador and current Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment Mauricio Lyrio agreed.
"We see geopolitics determining most decisions related to Brazil's key minerals," Lyrio said at the same group meeting. He pointed out that due to Brazil's good relations with each UN country, its mineral assets gain value when conflicts and geopolitical issues arise elsewhere. "Brazil can sign cooperation agreements for each mineral with each country, which is crucial in today's era." Both group members said that Brazil's quality of key mineral reserves and its expertise in mining technology give the country an advantage in negotiations, but time is crucial.
Brazil has the world's second-largest reserves of rare earths, but its production accounts for less than 1% of the global total.
Lyrio said: "Brazil has a huge opportunity, but we need a very strong sense of urgency to be able to utilize it." "Brazil needs to lead the terms of resource extraction, rather than responding to the will of others."