Brazil Seeks $2.7 Billion Investment for Lithium Production

Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy said on Thursday that it hopes to attract over $2.7 billion in foreign investments to develop its lithium industry by the end of this decade. Lithium is a vital component for batteries, including those employed by electric vehicles.

As quoted by Russia’s state-run Tass news service, the Brazilian ministry believes a new presidential decree to streamline lithium exports by removing cumbersome authorization procedures will bring international investors running.

The existing procedure requires lithium exporters to secure authorization from the Brazilian National Commission for Nuclear Energy (CNEN), because lithium also has nuclear power applications. 

Geology and Mining Secretary Pedro Paulo Dias Mesquita explained on Wednesday that cutting CNEN out of the loop is “part of the government’s efforts to reduce bureaucracy in the mining sector and improve the business environment.”

“This measure facilitates the opening and speeds up the [development] of the Brazilian lithium market for Brazil to build into global chains on the basis of competitiveness and attracting investments in science and mineral production, as well as for the development of production capacities in treatment [of the metal], the production of components and batteries,” said a Brazilian presidential decree translated by Tass.

The Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy expects the development of lithium resources to be of particular benefit to the impoverished state of Minas Gerais and its Jequitinhonha River valley, where South America’s largest known lithium deposits are found.

Canadian minerals company Sigma Lithium already has a $5.1 billion project lined up in Minas Gerais. It is projected to produce over 530,000 metric tons of lithium per year over 13 years, once the multi-phase mining project is fully constructed. 

Sigma Lithium executives believe the project will become the fourth-largest source of lithium in the world, and the lowest-cost of all the world’s mining operations, if the company can attract the additional investment partners it needs to expand the project.