Questão 44 do ITA 2027

Brazil’s last asbestos miners are switching to rare earth minerals. Can they offer a brighter future?

Minaçu, a small city in inland Brazil and home to the only asbestos mine in the Americas, is set to become the first operation outside Asia to produce four rare earths on a commercial scale. [...]

Until now, China has dominated the separation of rare earths, and accounts for 90\% of the manufacture of rare-earth magnets, or super magnets, which are made with these elements and used in electric cars, wind turbines and military equipment such as jets.

But in April, China restricted its exports of the minerals in response to US tariffs, causing uncertainty over global supply. Brazil’s incipient production could hardly be better timed. To stimulate the sector, the Brazilian government has issued a call for tenders with an investment forecast of 5bn reals (£670m) in projects related to the supply of strategic minerals, such as rare earths. [...]

Rare earths are a group of 17 elements with high magnetism and the ability to absorb light, features that make them essential for the transition to clean energy. Some of the most coveted are neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium – used in the manufacture of electric motors and wind turbines, two industries that fuel the demand for rare earths, which have doubled globally between 2015 and 2023. [...]

For Minaçu, rare earths are the promise of a fresh start. In 2017, Sama, part of the Brazilian company Eternit, was compelled to halt the asbestos mining that for 50 years had shaped the town. The temporary permit granted for export extraction two years later permitted it to keep operating, but with diminished capacity.