From uranium to niobium, lessons for Brazil regarding rare earth elements.

In the 1970s, the nuclear program gained new scale. Angra 1 was implemented with Westinghouse technology and imported fuel. The Brazil-Germany Nuclear Agreement of 1975 foresaw eight power plants and technology transfer, but external pressures, economic difficulties, and limitations of the negotiated technology frustrated a large part of its objectives.

In response to foreign dependence, the Navy initiated a program in 1979 to master the nuclear fuel cycle. In Aramar (SP), under the leadership of Othon Luiz Pinheiro da Silva, uranium ultracentrifugation technology was developed. Today, INB operates from mining in Caetité (BA) to enrichment in Resende (RJ), and the implementation of conversion to UF₆ will allow for the complete mastery of the nuclear fuel cycle.

Another success story is niobium, of which Brazil holds about three-quarters of the world's reserves. In Araxá (MG), CBMM (Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração) has developed, over decades and in collaboration with universities, expertise ranging from mining and beneficiation to metallurgy, process engineering, R&D ("research and development") and application development. This accumulation of knowledge has allowed the country to achieve a leading position worldwide not only in production, but also in the technology associated with this strategic mineral.

Uranium and niobium demonstrate that Brazil possesses the scientific, technological, and entrepreneurial capacity to extract more than just mineral income from its resources. The issue reappears now with rare earth elements—17 elements essential to wind turbines, electric motors, optical fibers, defense systems, and medical equipment. Despite its significant resources, the country still lacks an ecosystem that connects universities, research centers, government, financial agents, and companies, advancing from mining and separation to refining, metallurgy, and high-tech devices.

In this context, Bill 2,780/2024, approved by the Chamber of Deputies and currently in the Senate, represents an important step forward. By establishing a National Policy for Critical and Strategic Minerals, it seeks to stimulate research, processing, transformation, and value addition, and provides for a national coordination body linked to the Presidency of the Republic. However, the bill needs improvement, as it currently does not establish sufficient obligations to enforce the processing of minerals before exporting them.

The challenge for the National Congress is to build a framework that stimulates mineral production and progressively induces the internalization of technological capabilities. For strategic supply chains, this requires value-added targets and national dominance in processes, engineering, critical equipment, suppliers, and human resources, coupled with verifiable financing, incentives, and commitments.

It is equally necessary to bring together government, businesses, universities, research institutes, and financial agents around missions, goals, and indicators. The objective should be to transform Brazil's geological advantage not only into mineral production and income, but also into lasting knowledge, industrial capacity, and technological expertise.

<sub>Anderson Gomes
Celso Pinto de Melo
Cid Bartolomeu de Araújo
Sergio Machado Rezende
Full Professors in the Department of Physics at the Federal University of Pernambuco - UFPE

This article was originally available in Folha de S. Paulo.</sub>