Brazil Congress Passes Bill to Vet Foreign Mining Takeovers, Boost Strategic Minerals Control

Brazil's Senate approved PL 2.780/2024, creating a national policy for critical minerals and allowing the government to block foreign acquisitions of mining companies. The bill establishes a 2 billion reais guarantee fund but does not address Brazil's lack of downstream processing capacity, which remains a bottleneck. This signals a shift toward resource nationalism and could affect foreign investment in Brazil's mining sector.